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Detained anti-crude pipeline activist in Uganda launched, pressure group states

An employee of a. ecological group campaigning to stop construction of a $5. billion crude oil pipeline in east Africa who the organisation. stated had been apprehended by the Ugandan armed force last week has. been released.

Stephen Kwikiriza, from the Ugandan environmental pressure. group Environment Governance Institute (EGI), has campaigned to. stop the 1,445-km East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) which. will carry crude from oilfields in western Uganda to a port on. Tanzania's coast.

In a statement on Monday, EGI said the activist was disposed. on a highway in western Uganda about five hours' drive from the. capital Kampala on Sunday night around 8:30 p.m.

According to an account from him, he was beaten and is. visibly in bad shape, the statement stated, adding Kwikiriza had. been taken to a hospital where he was getting treatment.

EGI had actually said that Kwikiriza was detained last Tuesday by the. Uganda military but Deo Akiiki, deputy spokesperson of the. military, rejected they were holding him and cops representative. Fred Enanga likewise informed they had not jailed him.

Throughout his captivity he was asked about why he and others. are irritating the oil task, Samuel Okulony, Director of. EGI informed , adding that Kwikiriza was put in a vehicle trunk. while being driven to the area where he was dropped.

Akiiki and Enanga could not immediately be reached for. comment on Monday.

The pipeline is majority-owned by France's TotalEnergies. , with China's CNOOC and the Ugandan and Tanzanian. governments holding minority stakes.

TotalEnergies E&P Uganda does not endure any danger or. attack against those who quietly protect and promote human. rights, TotalEnergies stated in a statement to on Monday.

The pipeline's challengers say the project will displace 10s. of thousands of individuals and damage vulnerable environments. TotalEnergies denies the accusations and says the project will. just displace about 5000 individuals.

(source: Reuters)