Security operatives have reportedly abducted Andrew Nabimanya, alias NinyeTabz, a renowned National Unity Platform (NUP) activist.
NUP secretary general David Lewis Rubongoya said NinyeTabz was abducted on Wednesday from Kamwokya. According to NUP officials, the anti-corruption whistleblower and photojournalist was picked up on Wednesday evening in the Kampala suburb by plainclothes operatives travelling in Toyota vans commonly referred to as “drones” or the “panda gari” of the 1970s and 1980s.
“We’ve just been informed of the abduction of NinyeTabz from Kamwokya a short while ago. He has been whisked away in a drone. The lawlessness continues!” Rubongoya said.
His arrest follows several others that the opposition party and other pro-change groups describe as continued “silent abductions” in the country since the January 14-15 general election.
The reported arrest comes shortly after the raid on the home of prominent opposition lawyer and former Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago, who is also president of the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF).
Lukwago, who had spent two days in undisclosed military detention, was on Wednesday presented at Kira Divisional Police Headquarters in Kira Municipality, Wakiso district, where he recorded a statement, was charged with misprision of treason, and remanded to Luzira Prison.
Leader of the Opposition and Nakawa West MP Joel Ssenyonyi also took to social media to express frustration over the continued targeting of mainly NUP supporters.
“The senseless abductions continue. Tabz NinyeTabz has been taken by a drone from Kamwokya!” Ssenyonyi said.
NinyeTabz was recently involved in a social media spat with State Minister for Local Government Justine Nameere, who promised to teach him a legal lesson.
He was also an unapologetic whistleblower on alleged corruption in the Ministry of Works and Transport, particularly matters involving the Commissioner for Transport Regulation and Safety and Chief Licensing Officer, Winstone Katushabe.
Reports of opposition supporters being abducted have continued since the 2021 elections, with cases reportedly spiking again in early 2026 ahead of the presidential polls. Critics have likened the incidents to the state abductions witnessed in the 1970s, a trend they associate with the rise of Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
NUP alleges that more than 3,000 of its members have been arrested and are being held in various detention facilities on political charges linked to the 2026 elections.
However, security agencies, including the police and the army, have consistently denied claims that NUP supporters are being abducted or kidnapped, maintaining that those detained were lawfully arrested on legitimate criminal and security-related charges.