Activist Mwabili Mwagodi has recounted how he was abducted and held incommunicado for four days in Tanzania and later abandoned in a thicket in Kinondo, Kwale County.
After receiving medical treatment for five days at a Mombasa hospital, Mwagodi, accompanied by his relatives, lawyer and fellow activists, made his first public appearance at the Central Police Station in Mombasa to record a statement.
However, his attempt was unsuccessful after the Officer Commanding Station declined, citing a lack of jurisdiction since the incident had occurred outside their area.
Addressing the press afterwards, Mwagodi explained that he had been working legally at a hotel in Tanzania for several years until July 23, when four men abducted him and confiscated his documents.
He was blindfolded and taken to an unknown location, where he was grilled all night in an isolated room while handcuffed.
He was later taken to his workplace, where he also lived. His two phones and a laptop were confiscated
“I was under the guard of two armed men in the private house. I was locked in a bedroom, cuffed day and night. The only time the cuffs were removed was during eating,” Mwagodi recalled.
He added that on the fourth day, he was taken on a long drive before he was given his items that had been confiscated.
“I was handed over to other people whom I don’t know, as I was still blindfolded. These people were very rough; they threw me into a car, and I was driven again for a few hours. They stopped the car and intimidated me as they interrogated me,” he said.
Mwagodi further revealed that the interrogators wanted to find out the issues he had with the Head of State. He alleged that they assaulted him in turns before they left him in a thicket.
“I was disoriented for a while, then my senses came back, and I started to walk. It was total darkness. I counted 3330 steps until I reached Coral Cove, where I was assisted, and the establishment’s Manager called the Police,” he stated, adding that Human Rights Activists thwarted attempts to detain him at Diani Police Station.
He thanked his family, friends, and Kenyans for standing with him while in detention.
Muslim for Human Rights Chairman Khelef Khalifa claimed that the authorities in Tanzania collaborate with Kenyan security to silence dissidents.
“What we know in law, OB can be lodged anywhere. When they arrested and dumped him in a thicket, he found his way to Diani Police Station, which refused to record his statement. We wonder what they are hiding,” stated Khalifa.
Mwagodi’s lawyer, Munira Ali, condemned the abduction as illegal, stressing that the client’s only ‘mistake’ was holding the government accountable.
By Sadik Hassan
