Kenyan activists Bob Njagi, Nicholas Oyoo to sue Uganda in regional court over abduction
After being held and tortured in Kampala, Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo launch legal action against Uganda to challenge cross-border political repression.
Kenyan activists Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo have vowed to take the Ugandan government to the East African Court of Justice over what they describe as their abduction and illegal detention in Kampala.
The two went missing on October 1 after their vehicle broke down at a petrol station near Kampala while travelling — an ordeal they say exposes cross-border coordination in political repression.
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Before their arrest, Njagi and Oyoo had attended a campaign rally in Kaliro District organised by Ugandan opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine.
The activists were detained for 38 days at Kasenyi Military Barracks in Entebbe.
Speaking about their ordeal, Njagi described the harsh conditions they endured in detention, saying they were denied proper food, medical care, and communication with others. “We were psychologically and physically tortured for those 38 days,” he said.
Survived on beans and ugali
Oyoo added that they survived on beans and ugali throughout their confinement, endured torture, and witnessed another detainee having their teeth removed.
He also addressed President Yoweri Museveni’s remark that they were “put in a fridge,” explaining it as a metaphor for psychological torture — being confined in a place where detainees could not move freely, communicate, or organise their activities.
Njagi further alleged that a militia unit operating from Sera Kasenyi, a military training facility for Uganda’s Special Forces Command, carried out the arrests under the orders of General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the president’s son, sometimes without President Museveni’s direct knowledge.
Foreign nationals held
He claimed that several foreign nationals, including six Nigerians, as well as Ugandan civilians — among them elderly men and the brother of Uganda’s Internal Affairs Minister — remain detained in the same facility, with some subjected to severe torture.
"We have foreign nationalities, foreign nationalities that are still being held at the military base in Sera Kasenyi training camp," said Njagi.
"There are also Ugandan nationals who are civilians in that camp, very senior old men, including the brother of the Internal Affairs Minister of Uganda. The brother is the Internal Affairs Minister, but he's looking for his brother, who is in a military camp. So I'd like him to know the location of this safe house where we were."
On Saturday, President Museveni publicly admitted ordering the arrests, despite earlier denials from his government and the military.
Museveni described the two men as "experts in riots" who had been put "in the fridge for some days."
"Here we have very good intelligence. We know them. They have been with us; I have their names. They came and they were working with Kyagulanyi's group. They are experts in chaos," he said during a press briefing at Mbale State Lodge.
Abducted twice within a year
Njagi compared their experience to previous abductions in Uganda and Tanzania, citing cases involving opposition leaders Kizza Besigye and Tundu Lissu.
He revealed that he himself had been abducted twice within a year, using methods such as phone tracking and incommunicado detention, and alleged close coordination between regional governments during such operations.
He also criticised the Kenyan government for its slow response, particularly the Foreign Affairs Ministry, in addressing their cross-border detention. Njagi said that upon their release, he and others were escorted from Kampala to Busia in a military convoy led by Kenya’s ambassador.
“We have not been charged in Uganda for any crime, nor in Kenya. Had we done anything wrong or offensive to the government, they would have had their day in court. These are things we cannot support, and we are going to challenge them in the East African Court of Justice. We’re going to sue the government of Uganda, now that the president has even admitted holding us illegally. He himself has confessed to these crimes," said Njagi.
"We are taking up this matter legally, but also sending a strong message, both to the Ugandan and Tanzanian authorities, that as a Kenyan people, we are not going to sit back as we watch them oppress the people."
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