Baidoa (Somalia Today) — Somalia’s South West State has asked the federal government to hand over MP Dahir Amiin Jeesow to face trial over deadly clan killings in Lower Shabelle.
Security Minister Hassan Abdukadir announced the move at a press conference in Baidoa on Sunday, saying his administration had formally requested that Mogadishu transfer the lawmaker to South West authorities.
He accused Jeesow of stirring up clan clashes in Wanlaweyn district and nearby areas, such as Yaqbariweyne and Warta Cismaan, and of acting as a spoiler rather than calming tensions.
“Jeesow has not stopped the chaos,” the minister said, accusing the MP of pushing “brotherly clans” into confrontation. He argued that only a trial in South West courts can answer the complaints filed against the lawmaker.
Abdukadir also urged residents of Yaqbariweyne and other affected areas to focus on reconciliation and stop sheltering clan militias that target civilians and travellers.
Harsh court verdicts
The appeal comes days after Somalia’s First Degree Military Court issued some of its most recent and toughest rulings on clan violence in Lower Shabelle.
Judges sentenced nine men to death by firing squad after finding them guilty of a mass killing at Warta Cismaan, about eight kilometres from Wanlaweyn, where 12 people were shot dead.
The court also linked the same group to the gruesome burning to death of Isak Da’ud Mohamed, an older man with mental illness, near Wanlaweyn.
In a related case, judges imposed death sentences in absentia on six other men accused of an attack near the well at Yaqbariweyne that killed five people and wounded five more.
The ruling also tied them to other abuses, including illegal checkpoints that extorted and intimidated travellers along the main road.
The court handed five-year military prison terms to another group of defendants for helping prepare or support the burning of the victim, even if they did not fire the fatal shots.
Four men were acquitted after judges ruled prosecutors had not proved the charges.
Immunity under pressure
At the same time, the Military Court is moving closer to a direct confrontation with Parliament.
Prosecutors say they have gathered substantial evidence that several unnamed MPs bankrolled clan militias along the Wanlaweyn–Yaqbariweyne corridor, supplying cash, weapons, and political cover to fighters behind the clashes.
They now plan to ask Parliament to lift those lawmakers’ immunity so they can file charges.
The case stems from the same November 22 ruling in which the court issued multiple death sentences and jail terms over killings that shocked the country.
If Parliament approves the request, it would mark one of the first attempts in the current political cycle to prosecute sitting MPs accused of aiding clan militias.
That push puts Jeesow’s situation in a sharper light. South West officials argue that if prosecutors can pursue other MPs, they should also have the space to test allegations against Jeesow in court.
MP Jeesow hits back
Jeesow has firmly rejected Abdukadir’s claims and framed the minister’s remarks as an attack on Parliament itself.
He said the comments from Baidoa “violate the law and the reputation of a national MP” and insisted he would not “respond to a local minister”.
He went further, saying Abdukadir “is a man whose land is under al-Shabaab control”, a pointed jab at South West’s record in parts of Lower Shabelle where the jihadist group still holds ground.
The MP insists he has spent years working as a mediator, not an instigator.
He says he has joined elders and local leaders in efforts to calm rival clans and promote coexistence, and accuses the South West administration of trying to shift blame for its failure to secure rural districts.
Contested region
Lower Shabelle, a fertile belt south of Mogadishu, has long been one of Somalia’s most contested regions. Federal troops, South West State forces, clan militias, and al-Shabaab all compete for control of roads, farmland, and informal taxation.
The Wanlaweyn–Yaqbariweyne corridor sits on the main artery between Mogadishu and Baidoa. Militia groups have erected informal checkpoints to “tax” trucks carrying food, fuel, and passengers.
Neighbouring communities accuse each other of using the road to move fighters and weapons.
In this landscape, the demand to hand over Jeesow adds a volatile political layer. The MP sits in the federal lower house and enjoys parliamentary immunity, while South West leaders say his actions have crossed a red line and now belong in court.
Any move to transfer him from Mogadishu to Baidoa would need close coordination between federal and state institutions and a decision by parliamentary leaders on whether to lift his protection.
For now, the federal government has not publicly responded to South West State’s request.
