MOGADISHU, Somalia (KAAB TV) – A day after Somali government officials announced a 10-day ultimatum to clear a public cemetery in the capital on Monday, hundreds of distressed families rushed to the Police Academy Cemetery and began digging up the graves to exhume their loved ones.
The announcement has caused public outrage, especially as government soldiers began demanding fees for every body to be exhumed.
In a press conference on Monday, Defense Minister Abdukadir Mohamed Nur stated that the public cemetery would be turned into a naval training camp. “We want the people to know that this is former government land, and we are taking it back as we need to use it for navy training,” he said.
“I have been told to pay $20 to retrieve the body of my beloved one buried in this graveyards. This is abhorrent and inhumane,” says Munasar.
On Tuesday, residents were told exhume the dead bodies buried in the graveyards located in Hamar Jajab area in Mogadishu.
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However, the claim that the land will be used for naval training has been disputed, with reports emerging that businessmen are planning to seize it for a beachside hotel project.
Deputy Mayor of Mogadishu, Mohamed Ahmed Diriye, and religious leaders also spoke at the scene, asserting the government’s right to exhume the bodies.
“We call on all those whose loved ones are buried in these graves to remove them within 10 days,” Diriye said.
The pain of today is much heavier
On Tuesday, hundreds of Mogadishu residents flocked to the cemetery, many employing unprofessional gravediggers without protective equipment to exhume the remains of their deceased relatives including those died of Covid19.
“It is chaotic and very concerning. The dead bodies include those who died recently and whose flesh is still intact. If this continues, it will pose significant health risks,” said local resident Mohamed Sharif.
Nimca Magan had to rush to the cemetery on Tuesday to remove the bodies of her father Abdullahi Adan Magan and brother Nor Ali Adan Magan, both of whom died in a terror attack in Mogadishu in 2016.
“The pain of today is much heavier than that of 2016. We had to exhume the two bodies. It is traumatic and painful to revisit the bodies of your loved ones and relive the same pain you had years ago,” she said.
Mohamed Muuse also had to exhume his daughter Mumtaz’s body, who died on October 14, 2021.
“I buried my firstborn Mumtaz in the police school cemetery on October 14, 2021. Our second meeting was today, June 11, 2024. The pain and suffering of being forced to exhume the body of your loved one can only be felt by those who are touched,” he said.
However, not everyone was fortunate. Mohamed also encountered families at the cemetery who could not identify the graves of their loved ones. “I saw people searching for the graves of their loved ones and they don’t know where to find them, and they are crying. May God have mercy on all those who died,” he added.
A group of women were seen crying in a corner when one of them spoke to local journalists, appealing to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to spare the bodies and leave the cemetery intact.
“Mr. President, what you are doing is far more dangerous than what you are seeking. We request you, please, to spare our dead bodies. Please leave them to rest in peace in their cemetery,” she pleaded.
It is estimated that more than 50,000 graves are located in this cemetery, and government officials are insisting on removing all of them within the provided timeframe. The government says it will remove bodies that can not be identified or those from poor families and will rebury them in another location.
However, the matter has generated significant backlash against the Somali government, which has been marred by massive corruption and the theft of public lands, often attributed to the president and his close allies and family members.
The situation has also attracted widespread anger and condemnation from political and religious groups.
Former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed described the move as “sad” and called on the government to urgently halt the removal of the dead bodies. “It is sad that most of the dead bodies buried in the graves have no identifying marks and cannot be identified as male or female,” he said in a statement. “It is even more painful that the Federal Government, which has been illegally selling military camps and public lands, is now saying that it needs the public cemetery where dead citizens were laid to rest,” Sheikh Sharif added.
“This is the action of Wahhabi group, who are known for exhuming the dead bodies of Muslims and treating them in an undignified way. We call on the government to immediately stop this operation,” said Sheikh Abdukadir Somow of the Sufi Muslim group, referring to the other religious leaders who issued a fatwa alongside government officials on Monday.
Another controversy surrounding the takeover of the cemetery is the government’s use of religious leaders to issue a fatwa approving the removal of the dead bodies.
According to Member of Parliament Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame, trust is the most crucial element between the people and the government. Without it, he says, the government cannot function, and since President Hassan Sheikh’s regime struggles with public trust, religious leaders were used to portray the cemetery removal as religiously permissible.
“Since they know they are not trusted, the government leaders put forward religious scholars to be trusted. It is unfortunate that the scholars have become a conduit for the legalization of illegal things,” Abdishakur wrote on Facebook.
A similar attempt to clear the cemetery last month was halted due to public outcry.