‘They tried to recruit me into PLU’ – activist Aloikin recounts detention ordeal

Human rights activist Praise Aloikin Opoloje has allegedly opened up about a weekend she spent in police custody before her arraignment in court on charges related to her social media posts.

While in detention at the Kampala Central Police station, Aloikin alleged that security operatives attempted to recruit her into the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU) while interrogating her over social media comments targeting Chief of Defence Forces Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba.

Her ordeal, she said, began on September 26, 2026, when an officer from Namungoona Police Station contacted her about a missing carpet. She went to the station expecting to resolve the complaint but instead encountered plain-clothed military officers.

The officers, she said,  informed her that they had been monitoring her movements for days and intended to arrest her over remarks she had made about Gen Kainerugaba.

Aloikin said she became suspicious and took a photograph of one of the officers, which she sent to a friend. The move angered the operatives, who demanded her phone.

When she refused, she said, some of the officers beat her up using gunbutts before forcing her into a waiting vehicle commonly known as a drone.

After surrendering the phone, Aloikin said one of the officers told her: “We are taking you to Muhoozi to explain to him why you call him a cabbage.”

She was driven to Kampala Central Police Station, where she spent the night.

During questioning, Aloikin said officers advised her to apologise to Gen Kainerugaba over her remarks. She refused and maintained that she stood by her statements.

She said investigators informed her that she would face charges of publishing without a licence. They also demanded her phone password, which she declined to provide.

However, Aloikin said the interrogation later took an unexpected turn when one of the officers suggested that she abandon her confrontational approach and join PLU.

“I recall one guy walked into the room and said: ‘But you are an intelligent young woman. Why don't you come and work with us at PLU? They say you want to change, come and we change them from within the system,’” she recounted.

The activist said she rejected the proposal because she disagreed with Gen Kainerugaba's political beliefs and leadership approach.

“I informed them that I would never work with Muhoozi because I do not think that we are intellectually aligned. I don't think that I believe in his ideology,” she said.

Aloikin further alleged that her interrogators questioned her relationship with Ugandan political commentator Fred Lumbuye and whether she received financial support from Ugandans living abroad.

Following her disappearance, police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke confirmed on September 28 that Aloikin was in police custody and would face prosecution over her online activities.

“She is in police hands, and at an appropriate time she will be placed in front of the temple of justice to answer to allegations against her, having knowingly misused her digital handle and offended,” Rusoke said at the time.

He warned that social media users were not above the law and could face arrest for alleged offences.

Aloikin was subsequently produced before court on allegations of publishing without a licence and remanded to prison.

She was later released on bail, although the details of her bail conditions and the date of her release could not be independently established.

Aloikin, a Makerere University law student, has been involved in several anti-corruption demonstrations, including the July 2024 March to Parliament protests.

She was also among three women arrested in September 2024 after staging a protest outside Parliament while partially undressed and painted in Uganda's national colours.

Her activism earned her the European Union Human Rights Defenders Award in 2025. She was also shortlisted for the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders.