Uganda’s opposition party National Unity Platform (NUP) on Thursday said their principal Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, had been picked by security operatives at Entebbe International Airport upon arrival and whisked away.
“He was picked off the plane and driven to an unknown destination. Up to now, we cannot speculate his whereabouts,” NUP Secretary General, David Lewis Rubongoya told journalists at a security checkpoint along Entebbe-Kampala highway where he had been blocked from proceeding to the airport.
A video recording shared on social media and seen by the Daily Monitor showed a group of non-uniformed security operatives grabbing Bobi Wine as he set foot off the plane before shoving him into a waiting vehicle that sped off to unknown destination followed by several security vans.
Courtesy video recorded at the time of the violent arrest of President @HEBobiwine by the regime operatives at the Entebbe Airport. pic.twitter.com/6edSt0m4mT
— National Unity Platform (@NUP_Ug) October 5, 2023
He was arrested alongside Katikamu South Member of Parliament Hassan Kirumira.
NUP officials said over 300 of their supporters were also arrested between Wednesday and Thursday morning ahead of the party president’s arrival from his mobilisation tours in Canada and South Africa.
Read: Bobi Wine in rallies to activate support
Meanwhile, there’s heavy deployment of police and the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) at Kyagulanyi’s home in Magere, Wakiso District.
A video recording shared on social media by Kyagulanyi’s wife, Barbie Itungo, showed a police helicopter hovering over their roof.
“There’s heavy deployment outside. See the police helicopter hovering over our roof. My husband has not yet arrived. He was taken upon his arrival at Entebbe. I’m here alone with the children,” she said moments before one of their security guards was also arrested from the home.
Upon his arrest, he was driven to his home in Magere, Wakiso District before he was visited by the leader of opposition in parliament, Mathias Mpuuga. Uganda police spokesperson said he reached home safely and urged the public to disregard rumours by propagandists.
“We wish to inform the public that the NUP President Kyagulanyi Robert was successfully escorted by our security team from Entebbe to his home in Magere. He reached his home around 11.20 am and is with his family and friends. Disregard rumours of his arrest by propagandists. Meanwhile, business activities and movements along Entebbe Road, within Kampala and Gayaza are flowing smoothly,” Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Patrick Onyango said Thursday.
Onyango though went further and warned Wednesday that the procession to welcome Kyagulanyi was illegal and would likely disrupt traffic flow as well as attract acts of criminality.
Read: Uganda police perform drills as protests loom
“The organisers of this welcome back event are advised to stop the mobilisation and members of the public are also advised not to participate in an illegality. Security agencies will make sure that no one engages in illegal possession and whoever will be arrested will be taken to courts of law,” Onyango told journalists in Kampala on Wednesday.
The return of politicians at Entebbe International Airport has often been chaotic.
In May 2011 during the swearing-in of President Yoweri Museveni, there were running battles between supporters of Dr Kizza Besigye, who had lost a presidential election, and the police as his followers welcomed him from Nairobi, Kenya, where he had gone for treatment.
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