Kenyan Activists Abducted in Uganda While Attending Bobi Wine Rally

A photo collage of Kenyan human rights activists, Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo

Two Kenyan human rights activists, Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo, are missing following their alleged abduction by four armed men in Uganda on Wednesday afternoon.

The pair, who had joined the campaign trail of Ugandan opposition leader and National Unity Platform (NUP) presidential candidate Bobi Wine, were reportedly taken at gunpoint from a petrol station in Kireka, near Kampala.

According to eyewitnesses, the activists were intercepted around 3 p.m. by four men armed with rifles who arrived in a grey van. A woman was also seen seated in the front seat of the vehicle.

The gunmen allegedly forced Njagi, the Chairman of the Free Kenya Movement, and Oyoo Ochieng, the group’s Secretary General, into the van before speeding off.

Their phones were switched off shortly after, and their whereabouts remain unknown.

“I don’t know where Bob is. I don’t know which police station he has been taken to. I honestly don’t know where he is. I'm just stranded here,” said a third Kenyan activist who escaped the ordeal and spoke to the media on condition of anonymity due to safety concerns.

The witness said he too was briefly detained but later released after refusing to enter the van.

Njagi and Oyoo had arrived in Uganda on Monday, travelling from Kenya with two Ugandan companions who later left them in Kampala.

The Kenyan activists then joined Bobi Wine’s team as they campaigned across Buyende and Kamuli districts on Tuesday ahead of the 2026 Ugandan presidential elections. Videos from the campaign trail show Njagi actively participating in the rallies and walking alongside Bobi Wine.

Bobi Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, condemned the incident strongly in a statement released hours after the abduction.

“We strongly condemn the abduction by armed operatives of Kenyan activists and human rights defenders Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo,” he said on social media.

“The criminal regime apparently abducted them simply for associating with me and expressing solidarity with our cause.”

The Ugandan and Kenyan governments have not issued official statements regarding the alleged abductions. Concerns are growing over the fate of the activists, especially given Njagi’s history, he was abducted last year alongside the Longton brothers in Kenya for participating in anti-government protests and disappeared for over a month.

The incident has drawn comparisons to a similar episode four months ago, when Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi and Ugandan activist Agather Atuhaire were detained in Tanzania and later released near their respective borders.