Kenyan police use tear gas during a demonstration about suspected kidnappings

Tear gas was used by police in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, to try to disperse protestors who were rallying Monday against what they claim is a wave of mysterious kidnappings of government critics. Some of the demonstrators were also detained.

Human rights groups claim that dozens of Kenyans have been kidnapped in recent months and blame Kenya’s police and intelligence services for the arbitrary arrests.

According to Kenyan officials, extrajudicial executions and kidnappings are not tolerated or carried out by the government.

In the midst of clouds of tear gas, some teenage demonstrators staged sit-ins while others marched through downtown Nairobi.

As police on horseback patrolled the area, they screamed anti-government slogans and several held posters condemning wrongfully detained people.

Okiya Omtatah, an opposition lawmaker, was one of the protestors participating in a sit-in. As riot police attempted to separate the demonstrators, they were held together by heavy chains.

According to the Kenyan newspaper Daily Nation, Omtatah and ten other demonstrators were arrested during the demonstrations.

Reuters reached out to national police spokesperson Rosalia Onyango and Nairobi police chief Adamson Bungei, but they did not reply.

The purported kidnappings came after anti-government demonstrations that began this June.

Originally intended to overturn proposed tax increases, the protests gradually transformed into a movement that transcended Kenya’s long-standing ethnic divides and emerged as the largest challenge to the administration of incumbent President William Ruto.