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Five missing Gen Z protesters found dumped, allege torture after arrest
Police officers arrest activists along Parliament Road in Nairobi on June 25,2026 during the second commemoration of the Anti-Finance Bill 2024 protests.
What you need to know:
- The five are Frederick Odhiambo Ojiro, Michael Ngige alias Jomo Kenyatta Junior, Muteti Mulinge, Collins Ochieng and Elijah Alam.
- Another activist, Davis Lichuma, remained missing by Saturday afternoon, raising fresh concerns over enforced disappearances.
Five activists who were reported missing after being arrested during Thursday's Gen Z anniversary protests have resurfaced with injuries and are receiving treatment at Nairobi Women's Hospital after they were allegedly abducted, tortured and dumped in different parts of Nairobi.
The five are Frederick Odhiambo Ojiro, Michael Ngige alias Jomo Kenyatta Junior, Muteti Mulinge, Collins Ochieng and Elijah Alam. Another activist, Davis Lichuma, remained missing by Saturday afternoon, raising fresh concerns over enforced disappearances.
The activists were arrested near Parliament Buildings in Nairobi during the June 25 demonstrations before they disappeared, prompting human rights groups and fellow protesters to demand that police account for their whereabouts.
Police officers arresting a protestor at Kencom bus stop in Nairobi on June 25,2026 during the second commemoration of the Anti Finance Bill 2024.
Speaking from his hospital bed, Collins Ochieng claimed they were bundled into Subaru vehicles immediately after their arrest, blindfolded and driven for hours to an unknown location, where they were allegedly tortured during interrogation.
"After we were arrested at Parliament, we were bundled into a Subaru car. We were blindfolded and they drove us very fast towards Naivasha. We were then taken to an unknown location where we were tortured," Mr Ochieng said.
He claimed the men interrogating them repeatedly demanded to know who was financing the protests.
"They kept asking us who was funding us. They kept saying they know Hussein is the one funding us and that they would arrest him soon. They said they would come for him," he alleged.
Mr Ochieng said they remained blindfolded until about 1am on Saturday, when they were driven away and abandoned along Lang'ata Road.
"We asked people where we were and they told us it was Lang'ata Road. We walked all the way to Kibera before taking boda bodas to All Saints' Cathedral, where we contacted the Defenders Coalition, who helped us get to Nairobi Women's Hospital," he said.
Frederick Odhiambo Ojiro, who was also admitted to hospital, said they were severely assaulted while in captivity.
"We were beaten so badly. They kept asking me whether I funded the protests. The men who abducted us bundled us into Subaru cars," he said.
Police officers use horses to disperse protesters along Parliament Road in Nairobi on June 25, 2026, during the second anniversary of the Anti-Finance Bill 2024 Gen Z protests.
"I am currently in a lot of pain. I cannot even walk. It is so sad that the government tortured us like this. Why not take us to court if they thought we had committed an offence?" he added.
Human rights activists who visited the survivors condemned the alleged torture and called for accountability. Activist Njeri Mwangi described the incident as a grave violation of constitutional rights.
"These are our brothers and sisters. We call upon the government to respect and uphold the rights of citizens. We must respect everyone in this country," she said.
"I want to ask our police officers to know that they will be charged individually for these human rights violations. What do you gain by torturing fellow citizens in this country?"
The activists' reappearance came hours after the Kenya Human Rights Commission announced that six people who had disappeared following the June 26 protests had been found abandoned in different parts of Nairobi after allegedly being assaulted while in custody.
The rights group said the first three were found in the Hurlingham area early Saturday before three others were later recovered, all alleging they had been brutally assaulted while in detention. It maintained that Davis Lichuma remained unaccounted for and demanded that authorities immediately disclose his whereabouts.
The activists had disappeared after they were reportedly arrested during the demonstrations, with colleagues saying repeated attempts to trace them at police stations had proved futile.
Human rights defenders had threatened to file missing persons reports and accused security agencies of failing to account for those arrested during the protests.
Police officers arrest protesters outside Parliament Buildings in Nairobi on June 25, 2026, during demonstrations marking the second anniversary of the 2024 anti-Finance Bill protests.
Amnesty International Kenya has called for immediate investigations by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights into the allegations of torture and enforced disappearances.
"Enforced disappearances and incommunicado detention have no place in a constitutional democracy. Produce them before a court or release them immediately," Amnesty International said.
The organisation also demanded that the National Police Service immediately reveal the whereabouts of Davis Lichuma and ensure his safe release, warning that every passing hour without answers heightened fears over his safety.
The National Police Service had not responded to the allegations by the time of publication.
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