After six days of secret detention, Stephen Kwikiriza was eventually abandoned at the roadside in the Kyenjojo district, several hundred kilometres from Kampala. Upon his release, the activist described the extremely harsh conditions of his detention. He stated that he had been forced to undress and remain in his underwear, locked in a room with very little food and a simple bucket for his needs. On arrival at the detention site, he was violently beaten and lost consciousness. Throughout the entire period of his captivity, his captors repeatedly questioned him about the international community’s attention to his case and the pressure being exerted to secure his release. 

The abduction of Stephen Kwikiriza is part of a context of growing repression targeting environmental defenders and activists opposed to oil projects in Uganda. For several years, communities affected by the Tilenga and Kingfisher projects and the EACOP pipeline have denounced the social and environmental consequences of these projects — including the loss of agricultural land, displacement of populations, environmental degradation, and harm to local livelihoods. According to several civil society organisations, at least 56 cases of intimidation, arrest, surveillance, or abuse targeting activists opposing EACOP-linked oil projects have been recorded in Uganda and Tanzania in recent years. In some areas, the presence of security forces tasked with protecting oil installations has also given rise to accusations of human rights violations, including arbitrary arrests and violence against local communities. 

The situation of Stephen Kwikiriza illustrates the growing restrictions on civic space in Uganda. Environmental defenders, journalists, and human rights activists who speak out against the impacts of extractive projects are regularly confronted with threats, arbitrary arrests, and forms of judicial harassment intended to silence dissent.