Primitive! Raila chides State over abductions

African Union Commission chairperson candidate Raila Odinga has condemned ongoing abductions in the country and asked the government to bring to an end the "primitive" acts.

Terming such acts as unacceptable in the current era, Raila said the country cannot afford to be taken back to the old dark days.

"We want a safe and secure country. Gone are the days when they used to arrest you and take you to Nyayo House, these days you are being taken to unknown places. It's primitive and it's unacceptable," he said.

"This thing must end completely...we don't want such primitive things to happen in our country."

Raila asked the government to take responsibility and ensure all Kenyans who have been abducted are released to ease the pain of parents who are crying for their children.

He said some families and parents are now in pain after their children were abducted by people allegedly to be police officers and are being held incommunicado.

"So I want to urge the government to ensure that this matter ends completely this year. We want a safe and secure country."

Raila made the remarks at a church in Siaya where he had attended a Christmas service.

The remarks by the former Prime Minister come in the wake of seperate abductions of three bloggers - Bill Mwangi, Peter Muteti and Bernard Kavuli, a fourth person Ipoa said was yet to be identified.

Muteti is said to have been picked up by four men outside a kiosk in Uthiru at around 9am Saturday and bundled into a waiting vehicle which sped off.

Witnesses said one of the men who grabbed the social media influencer was in police uniform.

Mwangi on his part is alleged to have been forcibly taken away from a barber shop in Embu by four masked armed men who were travelling in a double cabin pick-up truck.

They are said to have posted offensive images of President William Ruto on their social media pages.

Kavuli was reportedly abducted in Ngong town on Sunday in an incident linked to his activities on social media pages with the latest posts on his X platform highlighting issues related to the 2007 post-election violence.

A few days ago, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) called for their release.

The Independent Police Oversight Authority (Ioa) said Wednesday evening it has commenced investigations to establish whether police are indeed involved in the abductions as alleged.

In a statement, Ipoa chairperson Issack Hassan said they have dispatched rapid response teams to areas where the incidents occurred in Embu, Kajiado and Nairobi.

The teams, he said are under "instructions to obtain all information that may be relevant in unveiling circumstances surrounding the abductions and where there was police involvement as general alleged."