Activists Petition Court Seeking Release of Kenyan Colleagues from Military Custody

Human rights Lawyers and Activits in Uganda have petitioned the Highcourt -Civil Division over the alleged kidnap and abduction of two Kenyan political activists – Nicholas Oyoo and Bob Njagi.

The activists were following the presidential trial of the opposition NUP political figure Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu alias Bobi wine. 

The lawyers and activists are seeking for the  immediate release of Oyoo and Njagi  from detention, where they are allegedly being held illegally and incommunicado.

The petition has been filed through Kiiza & Mugisha Advocates and seeks seeks a habeas corpus against four top security officials including  the Chief of Defence Forces General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the Chief of Defence Intelligence and Security, the Inspector General of Police, and the Attorney General of Uganda  accusing the officers of unlawful arrest and detention.

According to the supporting affidavit sworn by Koffi Atinda, a Kenyan human rights activist and friend to the detainees who claims also survived abduction in Kaliro, Oyoo and Ngaji were arrested on October 1st, 2025, while accompanying presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, on his campaign trail.

Atinda says he witnessed the incident and saw his friends taken in a Toyota Hiace van, commonly known as a Drone, by men in both military and civilian clothes and  he later learnt they had been taken to Mbuya military facility.

Atinda further claims that since his friends’ arrest, the two men have been held without access to lawyers, family, or consular officials and their continued detention is illegal and a blatant abuse of their fundamental human rights, including personal liberty, human dignity, and freedom from torture.

Atinda further expresses fear that the military facility where the two are being held is notorious for torturing, harassing, and persecuting critics of President Museveni and his inner circle.

Atinda argue that as citizens of Kenya and members of the East African Community, him and his friends have the right to move freely within member states and participate in civic and economic activities without harassment.

The court application also supported by the  affidavit of NUP Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya seeks to compel security agencies to produce the two men before court dead or alive and explain the circumstances of their detention. It also seeks an order for their immediate and unconditional release, arguing that they have been detained beyond the constitutionally allowed 48 hours without charge.