(27 Mar 2025) MOGADISHU (Halqabsi News) – Sonja Nientiet, a German nurse abducted in Mogadishu nearly seven years ago, has appeared in a newly released video pleading for urgent help and safe return to Germany. The footage, posted on Wednesday night to a newly created YouTube channel, offers the first public glimpse of her since 2018 and has sparked renewed calls for her release.
“I ask for immediate help to save my life and be brought back to Germany,” Nientiet says in the video, speaking calmly in English with a German accent. Dressed in a black hijab and visibly aged, she wipes away tears while calling her rescue “a matter of life and death.”
Nientiet was kidnapped on May 2, 2018, while working for the German Red Cross at its compound in the Zoobe area of Mogadishu. Her abductors, who claim no links to Al-Shabaab or ISIS, are reportedly demanding a $20 million ransom, threatening to hand her over to ISIS if their demands are not met.
The video appears to be recent, with Nientiet referencing the March 18 bombing that targeted Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s convoy. Background sounds suggest she may be held in a residential area, surrounded by women and children.
ICRC spokesperson Christian Cardon called the video a sign of “hope for her release” while expressing deep concern over her health. “The ICRC will continue to work tirelessly, with all its influence, for this outcome,” Cardon said. “In order not to undermine these efforts, we cannot provide further information about the abduction, nor comment about its circumstances.”
This is only the second video showing Nientiet since her disappearance. Little had been publicly reported about her case until now.
A planned joint rescue mission by German and U.S. forces was reportedly cancelled at the last moment due to safety concerns raised by the German Foreign Ministry.
Unconfirmed reports suggest that a local security guard at the Red Cross compound may have played a role in the abduction, although this has not been officially verified.
The German Foreign Ministry, when contacted, maintained its long-standing policy of not commenting on hostage cases involving German citizens.
The haunting video has reignited public concern for the safety of aid workers operating in Somalia, where insecurity, kidnappings, and targeted attacks remain a persistent threat.
Halqabsi News
