Two Kenyan activists, Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo, are now missing after a frightening incident in Uganda left their colleagues shaken and afraid.
On Wednesday afternoon, the two men were allegedly abducted by four armed men believed to be security officials, raising serious concerns about their safety and the rising risks faced by activists in the region.
Reports indicate that Njagi and Oyoo had joined Uganda’s opposition leader Bobi Wine on his campaign trail in Kamuli District just a day before.
Videos from the campaign clearly show Bob Njagi on stage with Bobi Wine, the National Unity Platform presidential candidate who is seeking to unseat long-serving President Yoweri Museveni.
In other clips, Njagi is seen walking with Bobi Wine’s team, listening attentively and blending in with the entourage as they toured rural areas.
According to a close friend who narrowly escaped abduction, the two left Kenya on Monday with two Ugandans, who parted ways with them in Kampala.
The three Kenyans then linked up with Bobi Wine’s campaign team and moved across Buyende and Kamuli on Tuesday as the opposition camp intensified its push ahead of Uganda’s 2026 elections.
By Wednesday afternoon, their journey took a dramatic turn. The group had stopped at a petrol station to repair their car when a van pulled up and men armed with guns quickly surrounded them.
“At around 3pm some guys came with a van that looked greyish. They came out with guns. There were four of them and a lady seated in front. They took Bob and Oyoo Ochieng who is the secretary general of the Free Kenya Movement,” the witness recounted.
He himself was briefly detained but later released. He explained that he refused to go with them, saying his car was not locked.
They eventually ordered him to leave and lock his car, and after that, the men sped off with Njagi and Oyoo.
Soon after, the activists’ phones went off, cutting off any way of tracing them. Their colleague, who remains stranded in Uganda, admitted he has not reported the matter to police, fearing that doing so could put his own life in danger.
“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,” he said.
This incident has revived memories of other troubling cases of activists being targeted in East Africa.
Just four months ago, Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi and Ugandan activist Agather Atuhaire were arrested in Tanzania and later dumped near their respective borders, both alleging sexual assault by Tanzanian authorities.
For Njagi, abductions are not new. Last year, he was taken alongside the Longton brothers over alleged links to anti-government protests and remained missing for more than a month.
The disappearance of Njagi and Oyoo now raises questions about whether cross-border crackdowns on activists are becoming more coordinated and more brutal.
Their current whereabouts remain unknown, and their fate lies in uncertainty as their friends and supporters await answers that so far are not forthcoming.
This latest ordeal paints a worrying picture of the growing dangers faced by activists who challenge political systems in East Africa.
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