Four missing Kenyan youths have been released amid uproar over the abduction

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Four missing Kenyan youths have been released amid uproar over the abduction

Four young Kenyan men who went missing just before the Christmas holidays have been found alive, family members and rights groups say.

Kenya is facing a wave of disappearances, with a government-backed rights group saying more than 80 people have been abducted in the past six months.

The kidnappings are often aimed at government critics and are widely believed to be a security operation, although the government has not admitted responsibility.

They started in June last year amid anti-tax protests across the country, but escalated in December, when AI-generated photos of the president on the box were widely shared.

The youth-led protests forced President William Ruto to withdraw a series of tax hikes and shook his government, leaving his authority in serious disrepute.

Among those released on Monday was 24-year-old student Billy Mwangi in Embu, central Mount Kenya region.

Local Member of Parliament Gitonga Mukunji told reporters that Mr Mwangi was “whipped and beaten again in a dark room. He is traumatised”.

His father said he could not talk about what happened and was rushed to the hospital.

“He came home at eight o’clock in the morning. He went on his own – me and his mother saw him. We thank everyone who prayed for him and supported him,” he told the Daily Nation news site.

Last week Mr Mwangi’s father stormed the court when he pleaded for his son’s release.

A relative of Peter Muteti, 22, who was arrested in the capital on December 21, told the BBC on Monday that he had been reunited with the family but was confused and unable to talk about the incident.

Amnesty International Kenya welcomed the release and urged “the State to release all hostages and hold those responsible accountable”.

Two weeks ago, the police did not deny the cases of kidnapping of men who were wearing naked clothes all over the country, some of them were recorded on CCTV.

On Monday, the police issued a statement agreeing to the release of the kidnapped men, saying that they were already in contact with another person who presented himself at the police station.

Police said investigations into all cases of missing persons are ongoing.

Rights groups and other Kenyans have linked the abduction to the shadowy intelligence and counter-terrorism forces of the security forces.

Due to this social upheaval, President Ruto said last month: “We will stop the kidnapping so that our youth can live in peace and behave well,” while urging parents to take care of their children.

So far, no one has been released since he spoke on December 27, with activists planning protests on Monday to force the government to act.

Two other teenagers – Ronny Kiplangat and Bernard Kavuli – have also been released, their families told the media.

Mr Kavuli, a content producer, was seized on the outskirts of the city in December, while Mr Kiplangat is the brother of cartoonist Kibet Bull, who also went missing last month.

Kibet Bull is known for his silhouette cartoons criticizing the president. The other two were seized after placing AI-generated photos of the president in the box.

The police said that Mr Kavuli has been assisting them in their investigation after he presented himself at the Moi’s Bridge police station in western Kenya.

The statement said they would contact the three “and their families and provide them with all the necessary support as we seek more information to assist the ongoing investigation”.

The Law Society of Kenya has sued the government, demanding the immediate and unconditional release of the seven people who were kidnapped last month, including those who have been released.

The situation continues to instill fear across the country, as parents worry about the safety of their children and activists vow to keep up the pressure until all the missing people are accounted for.