A mutual friend, Warsame Omer, had accused them of being anti- Italian and pro-Ethiopia. He reported to the police that the three men claimed that Ethiopia would win the war and occupy Somalia and advised everybody to convert their lire into gold. Warsame had a reputation for being unreliable, and people thought his accusation was groundless. There was concern in the town that military justice might precipitously condemn the three friends.

Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, loc. 159