Kenyan rights activists Bob Njagi (left) and Nicholas Oyoo (right) have been freed 38 days after they were abducted in Uganda, rights groups said
Kenyan activists freed after monthlong Uganda abduction
https://www.dw.com/en/kenyan-activists-freed-after-monthlong-uganda-abduction/a-74674225
November 8, 2025Two Kenyan activists abducted in broad daylight while attending an opposition rally in Uganda have been freed, human rights groups said on Saturday.
Nicholas Oyoo and Bob Njagi had traveled to Kampala last month to support Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine, who will run against longtime President Yoweri Museveni in next year's election.
What do we know about their release?
Human rights groups wrote on X that they welcomed Oyoo and Nhagi's release on Friday night in Busia, Kenya, after they had been missing for more than a month.
The post by Amnesty Kenya, Vocal Africa and the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) said the groups were "facilitating their transfer to Nairobi."
"Let this moment signal an important shift towards upholding the human rights of East Africans anywhere in East African Community," the joint statement added.
Kenyan daily newspaper the Daily Nation reported that diplomatic efforts by the Kenyan government had aided the pair's release.
The newspaper cited a government official on Saturday as saying the two men were now back on Kenyan soil and had been reunited with their families.
Oyoo's older brother, Nobert Ochieng, 53, told AFP news agency that their freedom was a "big relief, because it's been a very tormenting and difficult month for us."
What is known about their disappearance?
Media reports say the pair were abducted by armed men from a petrol station in Kira town, on the outskirts of Kampala, on October 1.
Immediately after their disappearance, the pair were uncontactable on their cell phones, the Daily Nation reported.
Hussein Khalid, Vocal Africa's executive director, cited eyewitnesses who said they saw the two activists being abducted by masked, uniformed, and armed men — pointing to compelling evidence of state complicity in their disappearance.
Police in Uganda later denied that either activist was being held in custody.
Wine wrote on X on Saturday that the men had been held at a military barracks in Entebbe, under Uganda's Special Forces Command.
Local media reported that the barracks are known for past incidents of torture and unlawful detention.
The pair had confided in Wine that they had been interrogated for several days, he said.
The Kenyan Foreign Ministry wrote to its Ugandan equivalent last week to complain that it had not had a formal response to several diplomatic notes from Kampala requesting to know the men's whereabouts.
Surge in transnational kidnappings in East Africa
Concerns are growing about transnational kidnappings and the erosion of civil liberties across East Africa.
Dozens of government critics and opposition figures have been abducted within the region in recent years.
Those taken were primarily political activists, opposition figures and critics targeted in one country and transferred to another, often forcibly, for detention, torture, or trial.
They include activists Boniface Mwangi from Kenyaand Ugandan Agather Atuhaire, who said they were captured and tortured by security forces in Tanzania in May.
The latest incident has fueled urgent demands for accountability and more robust regional safeguards for human rights.
Edited by: Saim DuĊĦan Inayatullah
Uganda president admits Kenyan activists were arrested and held in 'the fridge'
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn8v9vkkjm0o
Tiffany Wertheimer and Damian Zane Ugandan
President Yoweri Museveni has for the first time acknowledged that two
Kenyan activists who were missing in his country for five weeks had been
arrested.
Last month, eyewitnesses
reported seeing Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo being forced into a car by
masked uniformed men after a political event where they were supporting
Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine.
News of their release was confirmed on Saturday but up to that point the authorities had denied that they were being detained.
In a live interview on Saturday evening, Museveni described the two men as "experts in riots" who had then been put "in the fridge for some days".
The
president, who has been in power for almost four decades and is running
for another term in office, was responding to a question about the
recent deadly youth-led protests in neighbouring Tanzania.
Museveni
blamed foreign groups for stoking up trouble and said "the ones who are
doing that game here in Uganda will end up badly".
Without
naming them, he added that the two Kenyan activists were released after
he received calls from "some Kenyan leaders" who said they should be
handed back.
Mr Njagi and Mr Oyoo were welcomed by supporters at the main airport in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, on Saturday.
"Thirty-eight
days of abduction was not easy. We didn't think that we were going to
come out alive because we were being abducted by the military," Mr Njagi
said.
Kenya's Foreign Minister
Musalia Mudavadi said their release followed "sustained diplomatic
engagement between Kenya and Uganda".
Activist
organisation Vocal Africa, who had been campaigning for the two men to
be freed said: "Let this moment signal an important shift towards
upholding the human rights of East Africans anywhere in East African
Community".
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has for the first time acknowledged that two Kenyan activists who were missing in his country for five weeks had been arrested.
Last month, eyewitnesses reported seeing Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo being forced into a car by masked uniformed men after a political event where they were supporting Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine.
News of their release was confirmed on Saturday but up to that point the authorities had denied that they were being detained.
In a live interview on Saturday evening, Museveni described the two men as "experts in riots" who had then been put "in the fridge for some days".
The president, who has been in power for almost four decades and is running for another term in office, was responding to a question about the recent deadly youth-led protests in neighbouring Tanzania.
Museveni blamed foreign groups for stoking up trouble and said "the ones who are doing that game here in Uganda will end up badly".
Without naming them, he added that the two Kenyan activists were released after he received calls from "some Kenyan leaders" who said they should be handed back.
Mr Njagi and Mr Oyoo were welcomed by supporters at the main airport in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, on Saturday.
"Thirty-eight days of abduction was not easy. We didn't think that we were going to come out alive because we were being abducted by the military," Mr Njagi said.
Kenya's Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi said their release followed "sustained diplomatic engagement between Kenya and Uganda".
Activist organisation Vocal Africa, who had been campaigning for the two men to be freed said: "Let this moment signal an important shift towards upholding the human rights of East Africans anywhere in East African Community".
