Two Kenyan human rights defenders vanished in Uganda's capital Tuesday after masked gunmen in police garb yanked them from a petrol station while they backed opposition leader Bobi Wine's campaign trail, sparking outrage and calls for swift disclosure amid fears of cross-border silencing.

The duo—Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo—were en route to rally support for Wine's 2026 presidential push when assailants, blending uniforms and plainclothes, feigned a vehicle check in Kireka suburb before bundling them into a van and vanishing.

Eyewitnesses reported the snatch around midday; phones went dark immediately, and no word has surfaced since.Amnesty International Kenya, the Law Society of Kenya, and VOCAL Africa fired off an open letter to Ugandan authorities, demanding the activists' whereabouts and safety guarantees.

Kenyan Senator Samson Cherargei labeled the act "unacceptable," cautioning that regional activism shouldn't trigger abductions, while Wine blasted the regime's "rogue lawlessness" and pressed for their immediate release.

The incident fits a chilling East African pattern of transnational crackdowns, where dissenters face snatch-and-snatch ops across borders, eroding civic space.

Rights monitors fear Njagi and Oyoo—vocal on governance and freedoms—were targeted to mute Wine's momentum, with diplomatic heat rising as Kenya urges Kampala's hand.

As searches drag and tensions simmer, the vanishing tests Uganda's 2026 election climate under President Yoweri Museveni, where opposition shadows grow long amid whispers of state complicity.