In brief
In his first detailed account, Edgar Mwakabela, known as Sativa, shares the terrifying ordeal of his abduction on a highway in Dar es Salaam. Captured on June 23, 2024, he was tortured and transported across Tanzania before narrowly escaping death after being shot in the head. His case highlights the growing trend of enforced disappearances and violence against opposition voices in Tanzania, raising concerns as elections approach.
Warning: This article contains details that some readers may find distressing.
In the wake of his abduction on a highway in Tanzania's main city Dar es Salaam, social media activist Edgar Mwakabela, better known as Sativa, says he came close to death.
He describes in an interview with the BBC how, after kidnapping him on 23 June last year, his captors interrogated him and then ferried him across the country to the remote Katavi region near the Congolese border, more than 1,000km (600 miles) away.
Sativa says he was handcuffed, blindfolded and brutally beaten, including being struck repeatedly on his head, back, and legs with the flat side of a machete.
It was extremely painful.
He tells the BBC that those who abducted him wanted to know who was facilitating his activism, and why he was criticising the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, in power since 1977.
Sativa believes those who held him were police officers or other operatives linked to the authorities.
However, the government denies that it targets critics of the state.
Sativa says that on the fourth day after being taken, the violence continued as his captors transported him to the Katavi National Park, full of dangerous wild animals, and dragged him towards a river.
He believes it was clear that his captors had no intention of letting him live.
Then, he says, came the chilling order shouted from a vehicle behind them: Shoot him!
A trigger was pulled. A bullet went through his skull. His jaw was shattered.
Sativa's captors left - he thought he had been left for dead.
As October's general election edges closer, abductions have become more common, mostly targeting anti-government critics and opposition voices.
Every other week, police or social media posts announce a missing person. Some are never found and others reappear with disturbing accounts of violence or torture – and some have been found dead.
Sativa's case offers a rare account from a survivor.
Despite suffering life-threatening injuries, he regained consciousness and crawled to a road where wildlife rangers rescued him.
He would require long and specialised treatment, and his survival has been described as extraordinary.
The police did not respond to BBC requests for an interview, but in a video statement released to media houses in June, their spokesperson, Deputy Commissioner David Misime, said they do act on information about those missing and conduct an investigation.
