- Maria Tsehai, a Tanzanian journalist and activist, revealed the horrific details of her abduction until her release
- Despite the danger, he questioned the legitimacy of his captors as police officers, and angered one who had injured him with the handcuffs he had put on him.
- Tsehai was abducted on January 12 in the Chaka area of Nairobi and detained for about four hours before being released.
Journalist of Tanzania and human rights defender Maria Tsehai has given details about her four-hour ordeal at the hands of her kidnappers in Nairobi.
Source: Facebook
How was Maria Tsehai kidnapped?
Tsehai explained that the incident felt like a movie when the captors forced him into a black car and tied him up as he screamed for help.
“A black car stopped in front of us, and suddenly, like in a movie, I saw two people coming from both sides of the door, and they were shouting at the driver,” he said in a Citizen TV report.
“They were using a cloth to put over my nose and mouth, telling me that I couldn't breathe, so I needed to be quiet even though I was still shouting and screaming,” he added.
He noted that four people kidnapped him, one of them being the one who was strangling him and holding him for most of the time.
“There were four people; three were going out frequently, maybe for consultations, and there was a driver. At the last stop before letting me go, the driver also got out, and I was left with one who held me and choked me many times,” he said.
The activist recalled telling one of his captors that he felt they could not be police officers because they took him by force, which angered one of them.
“I told them, you can't be a policeman because you kidnapped me, and the guy who was holding handcuffs got angry and dragged me hard, injuring my hands,” he noted.
However, Maria expressed gratitude for surviving the whole incident, saying there was a time when she thought she would never come back or even be released.
“It was dark on the road on a bad road, so I walked to what looked like a highway. This could have gone wrong because there was a time when I was sure I would be taken away and you would never hear from me again, I would just be a poster,” he added.
He was later released to an undisclosed location after being forced to provide the passwords to unlock his phone.
When was Maria Sarungi Tsehai kidnapped?
Tsehai is reported to have been kidnapped on Sunday, January 12, in the Chaka Place area of the city.
He confirmed his release a few hours later through his X account following the efforts of activists and human rights groups.
The activist thanked the human rights organizations in Kenya and the people who supported him and distributed information until he was released.
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