Human rights activist Tito Magoti allegedly kidnapped in Dar

Dar es Salaam. Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) said Friday, December 20, 2019 that human rights activist and the Centre’s Public Affairs’ Officer Mr Tito Magoti has been allegedly kidnapped by unknown people.

LHRC said it had received the reports with “sadness” according to a statement posted on Twitter, where the #BringBackTito hashtag has started to trend.

Neither Kinondoni Regional Police Commander nor Dar es Salaam Special Zones Commander was immediately available for comment.

Mr Bob Wangwe, Magoti’s close friend, told The Citizen that the self-styled “recalcitrant human rights activist” was kidnapped around 10 am in Mwenge, Kinondoni, at the Sam Nujoma and Bagamoyo Roads intersection.

Mr Magoti, who specialises on human rights on businesses, was coming from Kimara, where he lives, once he got off a motorcycle taxi commonly known as bodaboda a group of six people in plain clothes confronted him and bundled him into a Toyota Harrier after they had handcuffed him.

Mr Wangwe told The Citizen that the information came to light after the bodaboda driver rushed back to where he picked up Mr Magoti and informed his friends and relatives of the incidents.

He added: “I’m at Kawe Police Station now trying to see if he has been brought here, others have as well gone to other nearby police stations trying to establish where he might have been taken to.”

The Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition (THRDC) said in a statement that it was “deeply disappointed” by the incident given the “proliferation of similar incidents especially targeting human rights activists.”