On August 19, shortly after a meeting on X (formerly Twitter) where they discussed nationwide protests, armed men abducted two human rights activists, Jamil Longton and his brother Aslam, along with fellow advocate Bob Michemi Njagi.
On August 18, Jamil, Aslam, and Njagi announced plans for demonstrations in Kitengela to protest against government actions, which they detailed in a letter to the Kitengela OCS.
Men with walkie-talkies seized Jamil and Aslam in broad daylight and forcibly took them in a white Subaru near their Kitengela home, while masked individuals believed to be police abducted Njagi along Mombasa Road.
Despite President William Ruto’s recent assurances against forced disappearances, authorities immediately turned off their phones.
Families and friends, including Jamil’s wife and brother, have been searching across several counties with no success, and they have not received any information from the police, who only investigate the missing persons’ reports.
The abductions come amidst a crackdown on protest organizers, with 66 reported disappearances linked to recent anti-government protests, according to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights.
