Residents of Embu town engaged in protests on Friday, demanding the safe return of Billy Mwangi, who was abducted.
The 24-year-old was forcibly taken from a barber shop in Embu on Saturday, December 21.
During the protests, residents set fires and blocked roads, expressing their outrage over Mwangi’s disappearance, which has now lasted six days.
According to Mwangi’s family, he was seized by four armed men wearing masks, who arrived in a double-cabin pickup truck before fleeing towards the Embu-Nairobi Highway.
Since the incident on Saturday, the family has conducted extensive searches throughout the county but has found no leads. They remain uncertain about the motives behind his abduction, although reports suggest that a controversial post he made on X, featuring an AI-generated image that portrayed President Ruto unfavorably, may have made him a target.
Mwangi is one of seven young individuals who have been abducted this month following provocative social media posts directed at President William Ruto and his administration.
In December alone, social media users Steve Kavingo Mbisi, Peter Muteti, Bernard Kavuli, Rony Kiplang’at, and Gideon Kibet, also known as Kibet Bull, have been reported missing, contributing to a total of 82 abductions since June.
The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) has indicated that out of the reported cases, 29 individuals remain unaccounted for.
Both the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the National Police Service (NPS) have denied any involvement in these abductions.
