CCTV cameras put shopkeepers in danger in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu

Shopkeepers in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, are caught between a rock and a hard place over a government directive to install CCTV cameras outside their businesses to increase surveillance of Islamist insurgents, who have a strong presence in the city.

Businesses say that if they install the cameras, they risk being killed by al-Shabaab insurgents, and if they don’t, they could be arrested by police.

The BBC has changed the names of the businessmen and homeowners for their own safety.

“Because of the CCTV cameras, you can see me at home,” says former shop owner Hamza Nour, 48, sitting on a sofa holding one of his children.

He tells the BBC that he made the painful decision to sell his business to avoid incurring the wrath of either party.

“You’re told not to remove the cameras on one side and then you’re told to remove the cameras on the other side. Depending on what you do, it’s either a bullet or a prison cell,” Mr. Nuur adds.

Last year, the government issued a directive to shopkeepers to install CCTV cameras – at their own expense – to deter Al-Shabaab attacks.

Deputy Mayor of Mogadishu, Mohamed Ahmed Dirie, announced this BBC Africa Daily Podcast that the decision justified itself.

“Mogadishu used to have four or five explosions a month, but now that’s not the case,” he says.

The government has now ordered residents to install cameras outside homes and residential areas, sparking fears among many that al-Shabaab could bring its war into their homes.

According to the leading violence monitoring group Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (Acled), al-Shabaab has killed four businessmen in 10 attacks linked to the installation of CCTV cameras since October.

The government’s directive was aimed at eventually disrupting al-Shabaab’s sources of funding as it extorts money from shopkeepers, but the insurgents’ retaliatory attacks “forced many businesses in Mogadishu’s main markets to close their doors for several days,” it added. Akled. in a report published on its website.

Mr Nuur says he initially ignored the government’s directive but was forced to install the cameras after clashes with security forces.

“I tried to explain to them that I’m just a poor person and I don’t want to get involved with the government, but they got angry and started threatening me, saying they were going to ruin my life,” he told the BBC.

Mr Nuur says that as soon as he installed the CCTV camera, he started receiving calls from unknown numbers.

“My body started shaking from the inside. I knew who it was,” he says, referring to al-Shabaab operatives, who have a well-developed spy network that allows them to obtain information on civilians like Mr. Noor.

Mr Nuur says he changed the number, only to be approached by a young man in the shop one morning.

“He lifted his shirt. He had a gun in his belt. He ordered me to turn on the SIM card.”

Mr. Nuur says he agreed, and the phone rang with an anonymous caller wanting to know if “the government’s demands are more important to you than ours.”

“I didn’t know what to do. A young man with a gun was standing there the whole time. I thought if I hung up on that phone call, he was going to shoot. So I whispered a prayer to myself,” adds Mr. Nuur.

He says that luckily the man “walked out of the store without incident after I hung up.”

Mr Nuur says he decided to sell his business after the two shop owners were killed in October.

“There is nothing more precious than human life,” he says.

Criticizing the government’s directive, Mr. Nuur adds: “People trying to make ends meet are embroiled in a war against a powerful group that even the government finds difficult to fight. Just imagine how we feel as civilians.”

Diriye denies that businesses are being closed or that owners are being forced to install CCTV cameras.

However, he admits that some businessmen are afraid, but says the government is doing everything it can to reassure and protect them.

“The city is calm and things are going smoothly,” adds Dirie.

But Asia Mohamed Warsame tells the BBC that masked gunmen killed her 40-year-old brother Dahir Mohamed Warsame at his shop in Mogadishu’s Yakshid district in October after he installed CCTV cameras under pressure from security forces.

“He left behind six children, the youngest was only four months old,” she says.

Shopkeeper Ismael Hashi, 33, says he closed his business after receiving anonymous calls from suspected al-Shabab.

“They knew my name and more. It was like they already knew everything about me,” he tells the BBC.

Mr Hashi adds that he later got a call from the police telling him to open his shop – and when he ignored them, he was detained for several days before being released.

Mr. Hashi says he has now resumed his business.

“I still have CCTV cameras installed by order of the government, but I know the government cannot protect me if someone decides to take my life,” he says.

“Every time I’m standing at the counter and someone I don’t recognize walks in, I get nervous and wonder if it’s really the person they sent to kill me,” Mr Hashi adds.

Sidaw Abdullahi Mohammed, 39, tells the BBC he was arrested for failing to install a CCTV camera at his home in the Wajir area.

He adds that 14 more people were arrested on his street.

“We were transferred to the Wadajir district police station, where we were detained for several hours. We were eventually released after someone with a government ID came and vouched for us and took us out,” says Mr Mohammed.

He adds that now he and other residents have installed video surveillance cameras — but they live in fear.

“As civilians, we are forced to buy cameras, pay for them to be installed in our homes and risk violence from al-Shabaab.” Is this how the government hopes to win hearts and minds?”