Silvia Romano, an Italian aid worker who was volunteering in Kenya before being abducted by Al Shabaab in 2018 has secured her freedom.
In a statement on Saturday, May 9, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte disclosed that the woman had been freed after spending more than a year in captivity.
“Silvia Romano has been freed! I thank the women and men of the external intelligence services. Silvia, we’re waiting for you in Italy,” shared Conte.
Romano was kidnapped by unknown gunmen from Chakama in Kilifi County in November 2018 during her volunteer work.
She was a 23-year-old volunteer attached to the Italian-based humanitarian group Africa Milele when she was abducted.
Corroborating the PM’s announcement, Italy’s Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio also noted that “The government never leaves anyone behind.”
A report that emerged in February 2019 indicated that Romano had been involved in an ivory trade which led to her kidnapping.
She reportedly bought ivory pieces from Said Adan Abdi, one of the suspected kidnappers on November 20, 2018, moments before she was abducted from her hotel room by three armed men.
Romano was also in constant communication with one of the kidnappers a few days prior to her abduction.
Police believe that she was abducted after failing to pay Abdi for illegal ivory which had been supplied to her and smuggled out of the country since April 2017.
Romano had, at the time, received several text messages from Abdi, threatening her that she should pay them their money by the end of November.
“We highly suspect that she was dealing in ivory trade and police investigations now indicate that she had not paid for a huge amount of ivory.
“The ivory had been supplied to her by one of her abductors, and despite having sold it outside Kenya, she never honored her promise of paying her suppliers,” an officer disclosed then.
