Inevitable
Senior Member
- Apr 27, 2012
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Gabriel Oguda, popular social media activists allegedly abducted
Several social media users and content creators are missing after they were abducted in overnight operations in the country hours to anti-Finance Bill demonstrations.
Officials said this was among strategies being used to defuse the planned protests against the proposed taxes.
Among those taken were vocal social media and political activist Gabriel Oguda.
He was among at least ten people who were rounded up on Tuesday, June 25, officials said.
"I can confirm that my brother has been taken by unknown gunmen from his house 5 minutes ago," Zachary Oguda, Gabriel's brother, tweeted at 2:53 am Tuesday.
"Any tweets coming from Gabriel Oguda were already scheduled. HE ISN'T SAFE."
Osama Otero who has been holding popular X Spaces opposing the Finance Bill 2024, was also reportedly abducted by unknown people.
Other X users who are suspected to have been abducted include Drey Mwangi, TemperCR7, Harriet, Shad, Franje, Worldsmith and Hilla254.
Many others are missing after being abducted by state agents amid uproar from families and friends.
In what appeared to have been a coordinated roundup, Osama Otero, tweeted about strangers at his home almost the same time as Oguda.
Other Kenyans planning to join the protests said the actions were provocative.
Many social media users joined the call to free those detained. #FreeOguda and #FreeOsama quickly became the second and third most trending topics in Kenya shortly after their abduction.
#RejectFinanceBill2024 hashtag which has since gone global had already hit 3.59 million posts on Tuesday morning making it the most trending topic in East Africa.
Law Society of Kenya (LSK) led by President Faith Odhiambo had earlier said:
“We call on all members of the public to be extra vigilant at this time. Let us continue to share and communicate any information you may have to establish the whereabouts of our comrades.”
Protesters plan marches on various streets in the country to denounce the proposed taxes.
This will come as Members of Parliament will vote on the proposals amid tight security.
Source: The Star.co.ke
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‘He Called Me Before They Broke Into His House’: Opiyo Wandayi Narrates How Gabriel Oguda Was 'Abducted'
National Assembly Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi says popular social commentator Gabriel Oguda called him early Tuesday morning before he was allegedly abducted from his house.
Oguda, who works as a political analyst at the minority leader’s office, is reported to have been taken away from his home around 2 a.m. by men suspected to be policemen.
His arrest has been linked to his vocal stance online against the unpopular Finance Bill 2024 which has sparked nationwide protests, now in their second week.
During a House sitting on Tuesday midmorning, Wandayi said Oguda called him at 2:20 a.m. to say that there were people he suspected to be police officers trying to break into his compound.
“He said there were cops at his gate trying to break into his compound. I tried to get lawyers to handle the situation but 10 minutes later, my phone calls were jammed,” the minority leader told the House.
“I was unable to make or receive phone calls until 6:30 a.m. They broke into his compound, broke his house’s door and abducted him. We do not know his whereabouts and don’t take it lightly.”
Wandayi said they searched for Oguda “in all police stations in Nairobi” but had not found him.
“We don’t know whether they killed him or if they are holding him incommunicado somewhere,” he said.
Majority Leader Kimani Ichungw’ah however told Wandayi to first contact the Inspector General of Police before they conclude that Oguda was abducted or kidnapped, and establish if the men who captured him were police officers.
“When this government took over power in 2022, President William Ruto stated that the days of kidnappings, abductions and extrajudicial killings are long gone. I assure Kenyans that it shall never happen in this country again,” said Ichungw’ah.
He nonetheless maintained that parliamentarians and parliamentary staff are not immune to the law, saying, “If myself and Opiyo run into problems with the law, it will take its course; we must be arrested and produced in court.”
Oguda is a vocal critic of President William Ruto’s government and reports of his abduction were shared alongside concerns that other people behind the X pages Franje, Drey Mwangi and Osama Otero, were also captured overnight.
Another anti-Finance Bill protester Shadrak Kiprono, alias Shad Khalif, was abducted on Saturday night in Nairobi’s South B area and as of Tuesday morning, his whereabouts were still unclear.
The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) in a statement on Tuesday morning condemned the abductions as a return to darkness.
LSK President Faith Odhiambo vowed that the lawyers' body will bring those orchestrating the abductions to book.
"Over the last 72 hours, Kenya has been drawn back to the dark era of a rogue, irrational police force operating through repressive, retrogressive, clandestine, illegal, extra-judicial tactics to forcefully quell public dissent against misgivings of government, lapses in governance and more specifically, the contentious Finance Bill 2024," Odhiambo said.
"We will unmask and take action against these rogue criminal elements putting our police in ruin."
Two people have so far died from police-inflicted injuries since the anti-Finance Bill demonstrations began last Tuesday.
A nationwide strike dubbed #TotalShutdownKE is on Tuesday scheduled to take place across all counties, especially in Nairobi's central business district, to pressure parliamentarians to shoot down the bill this week.
The proposed law passed its Second Reading in the House last Tuesday after 204 MPs voted yes to the bill while 115 voted no. It enters the Committee Stage this week.
Source: Citizen Digital
