Ugandan human rights activist Praise Aloikin Opoloje has recounted her alleged ordeal in police custody, claiming that security officers beat her during her arrest and later attempted to recruit her into the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU).
Aloikin said the alleged recruitment attempt occurred while she was being interrogated at Kampala Central Police Station over social media remarks targeting Chief of Defence Forces Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
According to the activist, her ordeal began on September 26, 2026, when an officer from Namungoona Police Station contacted her regarding a missing carpet. She said she went to the station expecting to address the complaint but instead encountered plain-clothed military officers.
Aloikin alleged that the officers told her they had been monitoring her movements for several days and intended to arrest her over her online comments about Gen Kainerugaba.
She claimed that taking a photograph of one of the officers and sending it to a friend angered the operatives, who subsequently demanded her phone.
When she refused to surrender it, Aloikin alleged that some officers assaulted her with gunbutts before forcing her into a waiting vehicle commonly referred to as a drone.
After she eventually handed over the phone, one of the officers allegedly told her, “We are taking you to Muhoozi to explain to him why you call him a cabbage.”
She was subsequently taken to Kampala Central Police Station, where she spent the night.
Officers Allegedly Urged Her to Apologise
During questioning, Aloikin said investigators advised her to apologise to Gen Kainerugaba for her remarks. However, she maintained that she stood by her statements.
She also claimed that officers informed her she would face charges of publishing without a licence and demanded the password to her phone, which she refused to provide.
The interrogation allegedly took an unexpected turn when one officer suggested that she abandon her confrontational approach and work with PLU.
“I recall one guy walked into the room and said: ‘But you are an intelligent young woman. Why don’t you come and work with us at PLU? They say you want to change, come and we change them from within the system,’” Aloikin recounted.
The activist said she rejected the proposal, citing ideological differences with Gen Kainerugaba.
“I informed them that I would never work with Muhoozi because I do not think that we are intellectually aligned. I don’t think that I believe in his ideology,” she said.
Aloikin further alleged that her interrogators questioned her about her relationship with Ugandan political commentator Fred Lumbuye and whether she received financial support from Ugandans living abroad.
Police Confirmed Her Detention
Following reports of her disappearance, police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke confirmed on September 28, 2026, that Aloikin was in police custody and would face prosecution over her online activities.
“She is in police hands, and at an appropriate time she will be placed in front of the temple of justice to answer to allegations against her, having knowingly misused her digital handle and offended,” Rusoke said at the time.
He also warned social media users that they were not above the law and could face arrest over alleged offences committed online.
Aloikin was subsequently arraigned in court on allegations of publishing without a licence and remanded to prison. She was later released on bail, although the date of her release and the specific conditions of her bail were not independently established in the account provided.
A History of Activism
A Makerere University law student, Aloikin has participated in several anti-corruption demonstrations, including the July 2024 March to Parliament protests.
In September 2024, she was among three women arrested after staging a protest outside Parliament while partially undressed and painted in Uganda’s national colours.
Her human rights work earned her the European Union Human Rights Defenders Award in 2025. She was also shortlisted for the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders.
Her latest account raises questions about the treatment of activists in custody and the alleged intersection between security operations and political mobilisation.
However, the allegations that officers assaulted her and attempted to recruit her into PLU remain attributed to Aloikin. Independent corroboration of these specific claims was not established in the information available for this report.
