Tanzanian opposition youth leader Abdul Nondo has been found following being dumped at a beach, less than a day after he was reportedly kidnapped in the main city of Dar es Salaam.
His party, ACT Wazalendo, says Nondo was severely beaten and injured and has been taken to hospital.
The party’s deputy chairperson, Isihaka Mchinjita, said the politician had been blindfolded and repeatedly assaulted while being threatened with death.The police have issued a statement confirming the incident at Coco Beach late on Sunday night, saying they are investigating the matter.
They said he had been abandoned at the beach by his abductors and had sought help from a motorcycle taxi rider, who then took him to the party offices.
“From there, party leaders rushed him to the hospital for treatment. We are investigating and we will take legal action,” police spokesman David Misime said on Monday morning.
After visiting him in hospital, Mchinjita said in an earlier update at 02:00 local time (23:00 GMT), that Nondo had been beaten “for a long time” before being dumped at the beach where the abductors “removed his blindfold and handcuffs”.
“Nondo said his abductors threatened him, warning him that if they capture him again, they would not spare his life,” he added.
The motive behind his abduction is not clear.
On Sunday, ACT Wazalendo said Nondo was snatched minutes after he had arrived from the western region of the country where he had been campaigning for the party’s candidates in last week’s local elections.
He had been taken from a bus station in Dar es Salaam in the early hours of Sunday by two individuals travelling in a white four-wheel-drive vehicle.
The police now say investigations are under way to identify the suspects and determine their motive.
This incident follows the kidnapping and killing of a senior leader from the main opposition party in September.
In that case, Chadema’s Ali Mohamed Kibao was taken from a bus, beaten and then doused with acid. President Samia Suluhu Hassan denounced the incident and called for an investigation into the murder.