Alex Kiprotich found after reported abduction

Kenyan journalist Alex Kiprotich was found nine hours after masked men reportedly seized him near Nakuru on Tuesday night, his employer The Standard said, prompting condemnation from media and rights groups.

The Standard said Kiprotich, an associate editor, was stopped on a road near the central Kenyan town at around 9:00 pm and taken by armed masked men. The media group said he was found hundreds of kilometres away.

In a statement, The Standard said the abduction had the hallmarks of a targeted attack on a journalist and alleged it may be linked to state elements seeking to intimidate the group.

The Kenya Editors Guild said it was shocked and described the incident as an escalation in the intimidation and targeting of journalists in Kenya. Amnesty International Kenya said the case raised serious concerns for media freedom and called for an independent investigation.

The incident follows wider concern over abductions in Kenya. The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights said in a report Monday that there had been at least 46 enforced disappearances in 2026, including 11 cases involving anti-government protesters held incommunicado and subjected to torture and ill-treatment.