Police in Uganda have denied allegations that presidential candidate Bobi Wine was abducted on Friday evening as vote counting continues in the East African nation amid an internet blackout.
Wine’s party had said a helicopter landed in the grounds of his house in the capital, Kampala, and forcibly took him to an unknown location.
But the opposition leader has since issued a statement saying he managed to escape during the night raid by the security forces and was no longer at his home, but his wife and other relatives were still under house arrest.
The latest results from Thursday’s election show that President Yoweri Museveni has a commanding lead and is set to extend his 40 years in power.
He has 72% of the vote, with Wine on 24%, based on returns from 94% of polling stations. The final result is expected to be declared later on Saturday.
Speaking at a press conference on Saturday morning, police spokesman Kituuma Rusoke said Wine was still in his home and that it was Wine’s family members who were spreading “untrue” and “unfounded” claims.
He said Wine’s movements were restricted because his home was an area of “security interest”.
“We have controlled access to areas which are security hotspots,” Uganda’s Daily Monitor paper quoted him as saying.
“We cannot allow people to use some places to gather and cause chaos. All our actions are intended to prevent anybody from creating violence or destabilising our security,” he said.
Overnight Wine’s son, Solomon Kampala, posted updates on social media admitting he was getting conflicting reports about the security situation at his parents’ home.
Difficulty accessing the internet in the country has made it hard to verify information.
Just after midday local time (09:00 GMT), Wine posted a statement on Facebook explaining that it had been “very difficult” at his home in Kampala’s Magere district on Friday night.
“The military and police raided us. They switched off the power and cut off some of our CCTV cameras. There were helicopters hovering over.
“I want to confirm that I managed to escape from them. Currently, I am not at home, although my wife and other family members remain under house arrest,” he said, adding that the nationwide internet shutdown had added to speculation about events.
“Given the commotion that happened at our house at night, and given that no-one is allowed to access the house, our neighbours concluded that they had succeeded in abducting us and spread the news.”
He reiterated his “complete rejection” of the election results – the authorities have yet to respond his allegations.
“In addition to the ballot stuffing, the military takeover of the election, the detention of our leaders and polling officials, and other electoral offences, their results have zero backing,” said Wine, who leads the National Unity Platform (NUP) party.
The campaign has been marred by violence and on Friday, news emerged that at least seven opposition supporters had been killed overnight on Thursday in disputed circumstances in Butambala, about 55km (35 miles) south-west of the capital.
The US embassy then issued an alert to its citizens because of reports the security forces were “using tear gas and firing into the air to disperse gatherings”.
