How Oyoo and Njagi survived on ugali and beans for 38 days in Uganda military camp

Activists Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo during a press briefing in Nairobi on November 12 2025. [Collins Oduor, Standard] For 38 harrowing days, Nicholas Oyoo and Bob Njagi lived under the constant fear that they might never return home alive. The two Kenyans were held incommunicado inside a Ugandan military camp, confined in deplorable conditions, poorly fed, and subjected to repeated psychological and physical torture. Throughout their disappearance, no one knew of their whereabouts. Families, friends, and activists searched in vain. Not even the Kenyan government made a statement about the illegal detention of its citizens on foreign soil. Oyoo and Njagi were abducted from a petrol station by a military surveillance team and taken to a military facility. What followed was relentless suffering, both psychological and physical, that Oyoo initially thought would last only a few days. Instead, the ordeal stretched across 38 days and nights. "We were placed in separate cells and handcuffed throughout. They would release only one hand when we needed to relieve ourselves," Oyoo recounted during a joint press briefing in Nairobi. Life in the camp was nightmarish. Their diet consisted of a cup of porridge for breakfast, with ugali and beans for lunch and dinner. Njagi chose to fast during lunch in protest. "I knew prayer would help, so I skipped lunch. I only had porridge in the morning and at eight o'clock in the evening, a plate of beans and ugali," he said. Oyoo developed health complications and had to be taken to the military clinic. "I suffered stomach problems, and relieving oneself required permission, sometimes taking up to an hour," he said. The two men were forced to sleep on mats laid on cold cell floors. "I would turn constantly to find a comfortable position. Sleep was impossible at times; military training, bombs and gunfire, disturbed us frequently, and that fear never left," Oyoo recalled. "If I asked myself when it would end, the question was repeated daily," he added. Only occasionally were they allowed to shower, always under the watch of two armed soldiers. Political mission Oyoo and Njagi had travelled to Uganda on Sunday, September 28, 2025, to attend political rallies for Uganda's opposition party, the National Unity Platform (NUP), led by Robert Kyagulanyi, widely known as Bobi Wine. They had only been in Uganda three days when they were kidnapped. Activist Nicholas Oyoo during an interview at Standard Group headquarters in Nairobi on November 12 2025. [Collins Oduor, Standard] On the day of their abduction, the two were at Starbex Petrol Station, waiting for car repairs, when a black, tinted van approached, and armed men emerged. Harsh conditions Njagi described the moment after being seized. Blindfolded, he was removed from his cell, chained by both hands to a chair, and interrogated and tortured. "One soldier stood in front, another behind. The one in front would strike me repeatedly. They rifled through our phones, demanding names of contacts, sources of funding, and the purpose of our visit to Uganda," he said. Afterwards, they were given only painkillers, leaving them to endure their injuries in silence for the remaining 38 days. Njagi described the indignities they suffered. They used a small paint tin as a toilet. "Two guards would escort you to relieve yourself. Handcuffs were removed on one side, and you had to walk back to the cell afterward," he said. But they were not alone, Njagi revealed that Museveni's government is holding Ugandan civilians and other foreign nationals in the military camp. Some, he said, were in critical health conditions and not allowed to get medical attention citing case of a Nigerian man who was being tortured with pliers but had been denied access to medical attention. "There were about six Nigerian nationals who were being held in those cells. I was in the same cell with a Nigerian man called Ife Anyi Chukwu Nwobodo Joseph. We don't know whether he has been released," he said. "They are not being told why they are being held in the cells, they have not been charged and I think the Nigerian embassy in Uganda needs to visit them," Njagi added. He disclosed that detainees were moved between locations, finally being placed in an undisclosed detention centre next to a football pitch in Ronyo, Entebbe. "Information about the centre is not public, but we managed to locate it. It has a perimeter wall with tinted windows and there is a banana plantation inside," Njagi said. Activists Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo, who went missing in Uganda for 38 days when they were handed over to Kenyan authorities in Busia. [Isaac Mpaka, Standard] "I am also informing the Ministry of Interior in Uganda. If they can locate it, they can free the other people in custody. It was meant to be a secret location, but we discovered it using our own intelligence," he added. Other detainees He also mentioned a Ugandan citizen named Mzee Kasiba, who was allegedly abducted about five months ago and is still being held in the military camp. "Mzee Kasiba is a very wealthy man in Uganda. He has been arrested for four or five months now, and his family doesn't know where he is," he said. "There is another young man called Brian Kwisera, who was released a week before I was, but he is too afraid to speak because if they speak in Uganda, they risk being picked up. There are also John Mary Luchamsi and Samuel Nosubuga, who are still detained there," he added, noting that they had been put in the same cell with them for 14 days. President Museveni also publicly admitted that he was holding the two, accusing them and describing them as 'experts of riots'. When asked about their mission in Uganda, Njagi said they were there to support Bobi Wine's political bid and attend his rallies. Government collusion "We were at the rally, and the authorities thought it was an act of aggression. Participating in a political rally is not a crime in Uganda. "We have had many Kenyan leaders attend campaign rallies in support of President Museveni, including the current president, Ruto. He has been on record travelling on top of cars to campaign for the president," said Oyoo. Activist Bob Njagi during an interview at Standard Group headquarters in Nairobi on November 12 2025. [Collins Oduor, Standard] Njagi added that the operation to abduct critics was being carried out by the Military Surveillance Team and Special Forces Command in Uganda. They also alleged a possible collusion between the two governments, citing the nature of the questions they were asked during interrogation. "And they would ask me questions about some of those groups. I think there was collusion, and someone told them what to do and what to look for. But they realised it wasn't really what worked for them," Oyoo said. He added that questions focusing on Gen Z protests and rights groups' movements in Kenya were key during the interrogations. Oyoo explained that the use of the word 'fridge' by Museveni was metaphorical, meaning detention. Oyoo and Njagi raised concerns over the inaction of the Kenyan government despite Museveni's public admission. "We have not seen any protest letter from Kenya, and these are some of the things that lead us to believe there was collusion. In fact, for the Ugandans, their 'fridge' lasted maybe two or three weeks. After that, it was no longer theirs. That's what we are convinced of," Njagi said. "When we were released, we were handed over to the Kenyan ambassador in Uganda. He escorted us for three hours in a military convoy, along with his convoy of about five vehicles, from Kampala to Busia, which took four hours." "So, there was total engagement between the two governments. They just didn't know how to release us because we are innocent. We have not been charged with any crime in Uganda, nor in Kenya," he added. Forgiveness given Regarding the people who abducted his father, the minor said, "They could have used better methods to arrest him. They should have given a reason for the arrest, not just picked him up." "I hold no grudges against them and also forgive them for what they've done. I also ask for forgiveness for anything he may have done, but I don't believe he did anything wrong. He just attended a campaign. I am proud of him," Omollo added. Going forward, the activists plan to conduct a total shutdown campaign across East Africa on 9 December to stand in solidarity with people who have been killed and to call for the release of political prisoners, including Kizza Besigye. "And we are going to challenge them in the East African Court of Justice. We're going to sue the government of Uganda, now that the president has even admitted the crimes of illegal detention," Njagi said.

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