German Nurse, Held 7 Years in Somalia Pleads for Rescue in New Video

MOGADISHU, Somalia - A video of a German nurse appealing for help has surfaced on social media, at least seven years after her abduction by suspected Al-Shabaab militants in Somalia, in what could trigger calls to rescue her freedom.

Kidnapped in 2018 while working for the International Commission of the Red Cross (ICRC), Sonja Nientiet has appealed for freedom without giving much detail about her captivity by the militants.

In the video, the nurse appears wearing a hijab and looking frail — she asked the German government to pursue her release while informing the audience that her health was deteriorating at a faster rate thus the call for intervention by the German government.

“ I was captured on the 2nd of May 2018 while I was working for the ICRC in Mogadishu, so now I have almost spent 7 years in captivity in Somalia,” the visibly traumatized nurse said.

“My health is deteriorating day by day and I am deeply concerned for my safety and for my well-being, so I am addressing this message to the German government, to my fellow citizens, and my loved ones back home because this is what keeps me going,” she adds in the five-minute video.

The video remains undated and its authenticity could not be proved but it was posted on March 26th, 2025. She was kidnapped in 2018 at the ICRC compound in Mogadishu seven years ago.

According to sources then, the nurse was strolling on the compound when she was picked up by an ICRC security guard later identified by authorities as Mohamud Mohamed Alas, and was whisked away. It is believed that she was taken away by Al-Shabaab militants.

The al-Shabaab, who are under intense pressure from a collective operation by security agencies, usually kidnap foreign nationals and use them to bargain for ransom. They have repeatedly released videos of people in captivity.

Within the last two years, the militants have released two videos of suspected Kenyan soldiers who are in their custody, but the governments of Kenya and Somalia have yet to comment on the issue. Governments usually do not pay ransom for the release of their nationals – a strategy meant to embrace 'zero negotiations' with terror groups.

GAROWE ONLINE