Tortured and left to crawl- activist Boniface Mwangi narrates his ordeal in Tanzania
He said any effort to speak to each other during that night was met with kicks and insults. The two were later taken from the torture location in different vehicles.
Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi has broken his silence after his deportation from Tanzania, recounting a horrifying ordeal of torture and detention with Ugandan journalist Agather Atuhaire, who was also found on Friday morning.
In a raw and emotional statement on Friday morning, Mwangi said the two had been tortured before being separated on Tuesday morning, during their detention in Tanzania.
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"We were told to strip naked and to go bathe. We couldn't walk and were told to crawl and go wash off the blood,” he claimed.
“We were handcuffed and blindfolded, so l didn't even see her, but l heard her groaning in pain as they barked orders at us,” he added.
He said any effort to speak to each other during that night was met with kicks and insults. The two were later taken from the torture location in different vehicles.
Mwangi claims the brutal treatment they received was ordered by a man who identified himself as a Tanzanian state security officer.
This man, according to Mwangi, first showed up at the Immigration offices, then followed them to the Central Police Station, where he allegedly gave the order for the activists to be taken to a secret location for what he called a “Tanzanian treatment.”
“He is a man of average height, has short hair with waves and light brown skin, and was overweight, he has a sagging potbelly. On that day, he was wearing a black suit, black shoes, a white shirt and no tie,” Mwangi recalled.
He said the man assaulted him in front of three lawyers from the Tanganyika Law Society. “He scared the three lawyers, and they left us at Central Police Station, before we were moved to a different location while handcuffed and blindfolded.”
Mwangi said one of the lawyers said the man reports directly to President Samia Suluhu.
Following his ordeal, Mwangi was deported by road and abandoned in Ukunda, Kwale County, on Thursday morning.
He was rushed to a hospital in Diani for medical attention and later landed in Nairobi in the evening.
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