Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi has revealed that militia recruiters attached to al Shabaab in Somalia were luring Kenyan youth with fake jobs in Russia and Syria.
Addressing a congregation on Sunday, the Governor argued that some of the recruiters were disguising the radicalisation drive as a legitimate recruitment drive to fight in Russia and Syria wars.
It is believed that some of the recruiters promise slots within the militaries of the warring countries.
"We want to urge our youth not to be cheated and hoodwinked with goodies that do not exist. Not to be radicalised into joining al Shabaab, ISIS and all manner of terrorist groups," he cautioned.
"The youth are being cheated that there are job opportunities to go and fight in Russia and Syria. We are asking parents to know where the children end up."
Turning the attention to the recruiters, Abdullahi cautioned that the Government of Kenya had launched a crackdown against the terror groups.
"Those that are recruiting our youth and radicalising them to join these groups, we shall deal with you," he added.
"We want to tell you that the Government of Kenya is awake. Don't think that you can come, recruit the youth and lead them astray. It will not be the case."
For years, the militia group has been trying to recruit members from Kenya cutting across young boys and girls desperate for cash.
Reports indicate that the militia targets individuals suffering from unemployment and those from poor backgrounds by giving them cash offers upfront.
In the Dusit D2 attack that occurred in January 2019, Ali Salim Gichunge, the leader of the attack was a 26-year-old Kenyan who attended a catholic school.
When he joined the militia group, he led a small team of four people who took part in the attack, all of whom were killed.
Years later, however, individuals who had joined the militia group began surrendering, including 350 young people who were re-integrated into the community in 2021.
At the same time, the authorities noted that very few Kenyans were crossing into Somalia with the aim of joining Al Shabaab.
"It's not just a blanket returning program. All these individuals who are coming in, there is a process of filtering them and understanding the kind of crime they have committed, and the legal system is also waiting to see prosecutable areas once these returnees are put into such a program. Then there is the sensitization part of it, the deradicalization part of it," explained Canon Harun Rashid who was processing the returnees.
Rashid served as the chief officer in charge of preventing violent extremism at Kenya’s National Counter Terrorism Center.
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