Police react after Zimbabwe opposition legislator's alleged abduction, assault: summary

What we know

• Opposition Member of Parliament in Zimbabwe, Takudzwa Ngadziore was reportedly abducted by unknown persons on Wednesday, November 2, 2023
• The 24-year-old who is a member of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) is said to have recorded himself in a seven-minute Facebook live video, alleging that he was being followed
• Members of the alleged gang that abducted him are seen in the recorded video, with one man holding an Avtomat Kalashnikova (AK47) assault rifle
• Ngadziore was later found naked, assaulted and injected with some substances at Christon Bank situated about 30km north of Harare
• Zimbabwe Republic Police have denied having any official reports of the incident indicating that they only had wind of the situation via social media

What they said

CCC Chief Whip Amos Chibaya speaking to the media said that Ngadziore was “on his way to parliament on Wednesday morning [November 1] when he was abducted at gunpoint and tortured. This adds to surging politically motivated violence and targeted abductions,” adding that he was severely assaulted and injected with an unknown substance. The national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said, “The ZRP has been keenly following an allegation of abduction and torture on social media. The police inform the public that no such case has been reported. We are trying to make contact with the alleged victim so as to elicit the facts beyond what is on social media".