Tortured but unbroken: Abductees recall ordeal

Antony Wesonga, a welder from Dagoretti, displays a gunshot scar he sustain during last year's protests. [Edward Kiplimo,Standard]

On December 21, 2024, two hooded men seized Peter Muteti outside a shop in Uthiru where he had gone to buy milk.

Muteti had come under the scrutiny of state operatives following his mobilisation and participation in the June 2024 Gen Z protests.

CCTV footage of the incident shows two men, believed to be plain-clothes police officers, approaching the shop, grabbing Muteti and forcing him into a waiting vehicle.

“They bundled me into a vehicle and blindfolded me. We drove for hours,” Muteti recalls.

His captors initially told him they were taking him to Parklands Police Station to record a statement. Instead, they blindfolded and zip-tied him before driving him to an undisclosed location.

When the blindfold was removed, he found himself in a small partitioned room, handcuffed to a metal fixture bolted to the floor. He was stripped naked and subjected to intense interrogation, beatings and psychological torture.

“When I realised it was not a police station, I thought they were going to kill me,” he says.

For the next five days, he lived in darkness, unable to tell whether it was day or night. He slept handcuffed on the cold floor, received food irregularly and relieved himself in a small tin.

Muteti describes repeated physical and psychological abuse. “They beat me with electric cables on the head and back. They kept asking who was funding the protests,” he says.

Each time the door opened, he braced himself for another beating.

“The people bringing food or beating me were always masked.”

His captors, he says, warned him to stop “disturbing the government” and mocked Gen Z activists, saying they were not the first generation to believe they were “woke”.

Just when he thought his ordeal was ending, Muteti was transferred to a second facility. Although conditions were better, the confinement, questioning and beatings continued.

“They gave me a mattress and blanket. I was allowed to wear clothes, the meals were better and I could shower every two days,” he says.

Muteti remained there until January 6, when sustained pressure from Kenyans, human rights activists and the courts led to the release of abducted protesters.

“My life changed completely because I lost my job. I was a branch manager at a financial institution that issues logbook loans,” he says.

Despite the ordeal, he says his resolve remains intact. “We have seen it all, but it did not kill my spirit. The experience encouraged me to continue fighting for a better Kenya.”

Muteti’s account mirrors that of Benard Kavuli, who was abducted on the night of December 22, 2024, a day after Muteti’s capture.

Kavuli, a vocal participant in the Gen Z protests, was walking in Ngong after spending the day online promoting the #FreePeterMuteti campaign when his life took a violent turn.

“I was bundled into a vehicle, blindfolded and handcuffed,” he says.

His captors drove him to a dark building divided into small rooms, similar to the facility where Muteti was first held. Kavuli says he was stripped naked, denied basic necessities and left on a cold floor, with food and water provided irregularly and sometimes withheld for days.

“I stayed there the entire time without clothes,” he recalls.

Like Muteti, he says he endured sustained physical and psychological torture during interrogation.

“They beat me with electric cables on the head and legs. One of them kicked me in the head with boots while I was on my knees,” he says.

His captors repeatedly demanded to know who was financing the protests. “I told them no one was sponsoring us. We were only fighting bad governance.”

The experience left lasting emotional scars. “To this day, I cry when I remember it. It was torture, both physically and mentally.”

Despite the fear, Kavuli says he drew hope from public efforts to secure their release. “I believed that because the media, the public and the country were looking for us, I could still come out alive.”

After several days, he and other detainees were moved to another location, which he believes was in a forest. “I could hear birds and hyenas. It was very cold,” he says.

Conditions improved slightly. The metallic structure was divided into blocks, and detainees received mattresses, blankets and more regular meals. However, the interrogations and beatings continued.

Kavuli estimates there were more than 25 detainees at the facility, although they never interacted directly.

“We cleaned plates in turns. When it was my turn, I counted about 14 plates, and I heard there were about 14 more in another block,” he says.

Sixteen days after his abduction, Kavuli and six other detainees, including Muteti, Kibet Bull, Billy Mwangi and Rony Kiplagat, were released following sustained public pressure, court action and protests.

Before his release, he says his captors warned him against returning to activism.

“They told me never to push those hashtags again, to stay off social media, avoid street protests and never speak about this, including to the media,” he says.

“They told me the next time they came for me, it would be a live bullet.”