Kenyan journalist Alex Kiprotich abducted, released near dam after nine hours

An associate editor for one of Kenya's largest news outlets, The Standard, was abducted by armed men overnight and then released near a dam far from the scene around nine hours later, his employer said on Wednesday.

Alex Kiprotich was taken from a car at around 9:20 p.m. on Tuesday on a road near the city of Nakuru.

"The circumstances of Mr Kiprotich's abduction remain deeply troubling, and we will continue to press for full accountability," the government-critical outlet said in a press release after his discovery.

Late on Tuesday the Standard Group's CEO Chaacha Mwita had also said that the "abduction bears all the hallmarks of a targeted attack on a journalist for doing his job."

What do we know about the apparent abduction?

The newspaper released a video overnight of what appeared to be dashcam footage from the car Kiprotich was traveling in when he was abducted.

A white vehicle without any markings apparent in the footage came to a stop in front of the car in an area where temporary barriers created a single-lane bottleneck on the Gilgil-Nakuru highway, and put on its hazard lights.

Four men in civilian clothes and obscuring their faces — some holding firearms and others carrying what appeared to be baseball bats — emerged and converged on the car, soon taking a man back to their vehicle and driving off.

On Wednesday, Standard Group said that Kiprotich had been located near a dam more than 200 kilometers (120 miles) southeast the scene of the abduction roughly nine hours earlier.

"Mr Kiprotich was located by a Standard Group team led by the Group CEO Chaacha Mwita at around 6:30 a.m. near Masinga Dam, after being dumped by his captors in the early hours of the morning," it said.

Kiprotich was "safe, though understandably shaken by his ordeal," his employer said. Kiprotich works for newspaper The Standard, a flagship of the wider media group known for its critical coverage of President William Ruto's government.

Right groups call for investigation, warn of pattern of abductions and intimidation

Police and the government in Kenya did not immediately comment on the incident.

Dozens of government critics and activists have been abducted in Kenya this year alone, according to a report released this week, with the practice becoming more common since widespread anti-government protests in 2024.

Human rights groups have accused state agencies of being responsible, with Standard Group voicing similar suspicions in this case.

Kiprotich had said in June that he narrowly escaped a previous attempt to kidnap him, which came three days after Ruto called out the Standard Group on social media.

Kenya's editors' guild said it was "shocked, outraged and deeply perturbed" by Tuesday's abduction, describing it as "a disturbing escalation in the intimidation and targeting of journalists in Kenya."

Amnesty International Kenya called for an independent investigation, saying the incident raised "serious concerns for media freedom."

Edited by: Zac Crellin