Maria Sarungi Tsehai, a Tanzanian media personality and human rights activist, on Monday recounted the ordeal she experienced after being abducted on Sunday, January 12, by unidentified men in Kilimani, Nairobi.
Speaking to the press after being released by her abductors, the vocal activist stated that she was taken by four armed men—three who exited the car and a driver.
The incident began when she went to a salon at Chaka Place, where she noticed a masked woman entering quickly. While waiting for a cab she had requested, a black Toyota Noah van suddenly pulled up, blocking her ride.
Two men then jumped out of the van and made gestures at the cab driver, at one point yelling and forcing him to open the vehicle’s door. What followed was chaotic, as the men dragged Tsehai into the van. She resisted, screaming and calling for help, but her efforts were in vain.
A photo collage of Tanzanian journalist and human rights activist Maria Sarungi Tsehai.
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“They managed to lift me, and one of them tried to cover my face with a cloth. They said I wouldn’t be able to breathe,” she narrated adding they handcuffed her and sped away.
Once inside the vehicle, her abductors demanded the PIN to unlock her phone, which they had confiscated, but she adamantly refused. To restrain her, one of the men on her right held her down while choking her as the vehicle sped away.
She said her abductors kept asking personal questions, including whether she was married, which she subtly declined to answer, instead asking them what information they had about her.
“They really didn’t want to use the word ‘abduct.’ So they kept telling me, ‘We did not abduct you.’ And I said, ‘What you are doing is an abduction,'” she narrated.
“And sometimes I could hear, and I could feel movement, so I think they were using sign language or something over my head, so I wouldn’t understand,” she explained to journalists.
After some time, Tsehai asked the men to take her to a police station if they were not abductors, but her requests fell on deaf ears.
The van then made several stops before she was eventually freed. “They gave me back my bag but kept my phones. They left me in a dark place on a rough road,” she stated.
Unfamiliar with the area where she was left, Tsehai sought help before making her way to her residence.
Earlier, Kenyans had shared a video online showing a PSV bus blocking the vehicle after her abduction.
“This incident targets what I do for Tanzania. If this was meant to intimidate me, I will not stop. I will not relent,” she asserted, linking the incident to her criticism of the Tanzanian government.
However, she has vowed to continue advocating for the rights of the Tanzanian people. “I am not doing anything illegal. I am asking for basic human rights,” Tsehai added.
The United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator to Kenya, Stephen Jackson had on Sunday, raised concerns over Sarungi’s abduction echoing concerns by human rights groups.
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu
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Samia Suluhu