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Uganda\u2019s military chief, the son of longtime President Yoweri Museveni<\/a>, says he is holding a missing opposition activist in his basement and threatened violence against him, after the man\u2019s party said he was abducted.<\/p>\n Eddie Mutwe went missing on April 27 after being grabbed near the capital Kampala by armed men, the National Unity Platform (NUP) party has said.<\/p>\n Mutwe acts as the chief bodyguard for Uganda\u2019s leading opposition figure, Bobi Wine<\/a>.<\/p>\n In a social media post late on Thursday, Ugandan General Muhoozi Kainerugaba said Mutwe had been captured \u201clike a grasshopper\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cHe is in my basement \u2026 You are next!\u201d Kainerugaba wrote on X in response to a post by Wine saying that Mutwe had been abducted.<\/p>\n Kainerugaba, who is known for his incendiary social media posts, also alluded to Mutwe being tortured, saying he had beaten him and shaved his head.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they keep on provoking us, we shall discipline them even more,\u201d he said of the opposition.<\/p>\n Kainerugaba\u2019s comments come amid an escalating crackdown on the Ugandan opposition and as Wine was set to launch a \u201cprotest vote\u201d campaign in advance of a general election in January.<\/p>\n Spokespeople for the Ugandan government, military and police did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the Reuters news agency.<\/p>\n On Friday, Wine \u2013 a former singer<\/a> whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi and who has become the leading opponent to Museveni \u2013 said on X that security forces had \u201cjust raided and cordoned off our headquarters\u201d.<\/p>\n He also condemned the abduction of Mutwe, telling the AFP news agency that it was \u201ca reminder to the world as to how law and order has broken down in Uganda\u201d.<\/p>\n The Ugandan government has faced international condemnation over the abduction of opposition figures, including veteran leader Kizza Besigye, who was seized in Kenya last year<\/a> and forcibly returned to face treason charges.<\/p>\n Museveni, who has ruled since 1986 and plans to seek re-election in January, has denied allegations of human rights abuses.<\/p>\n But the Uganda Law Society said the abduction of Mutwe, Wine\u2019s chief bodyguard, was not an isolated incident.<\/p>\n Instead, it is \u201cpart of a systematic campaign to silence dissent and crush the aspirations of young people yearning for freedom\u201d, the group said in a statement.<\/p>\n The Uganda Human Rights Commission, which is tasked with investigating abuses and monitoring the government\u2019s human rights record, said it issued a release order directing the authorities to release Mutwe on Friday.<\/p>\n