Bobi Wine, the main opposition leader in Uganda, was detained at the airport on Thursday upon his return from a trip abroad. 

His party, the National Unity Platform, said the arrest was a sign of the government’s fear of the opposition.

Wine has emerged as the strongest challenger to President Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power since 1986. Museveni’s government has been accused of stifling the opposition and human rights activists.

The NUP posted a video on messaging platform X that showed Wine being led away after disembarking from a plane in Entebbe. One of his associates was heard on the video saying, “Where are you taking him?”

Confirming the arrest on his X account, Mathias Mpuuga, the NUP leader in parliament, said, “The cowardly regime has arrested our President upon arrival at Entebbe Airport. We set out to receive him today, but the panicky regime security could not even allow him into immigration,” 

Police spokesperson Patrick Onyango said security agencies accompanied Wine to his residence in Magere, Kasangati. However, the NUP posted on messaging platform X that police officers had surrounded their offices.

Police had warned earlier in the week that anyone on the streets to welcome Wine would be arrested.