A Gwanda based political activist Mr Shyton Elliott who was abducted in broad daylight by suspected members of the Central Intelligence Organisation on Tuesday morning is still missing five days on.
Eye witnesses say that Elliott was taken away by armed men who pounced on him at a hair salon at Phakama Business Centre in Gwanda around mid day on Tuesday.
The witnesses claim that the men numbering about ten driving in two vehicles, a white Toyota twin cab and a blackish Toyota corolla sedan, pounced on the unsuspecting Elliott while he sat with a friend at the hair salon and threw him into the back seat of the sedan before driving away.
A witness who would not be named said that the men could have been monitoring Elliott for a while as they picked him up as soon the numbers had decreased at the slightly isolated shop.
“They didn’t even take two minutes. They were very fast and swift so much that the few people who were around the shop didn’t even realise what had just happened. The move was like an action movie and the guys appeared very highly trained in what they were doing” said the witness.
“The men arrived in the two vehicles, rushed into the shop where Elliott was, some of them carrying pistols and didn’t even talk to anyone but just handcuffed him and threw him in the car. They swiftly drove away, and we were all left shell shocked wondering what was happening,” he added.
Police in Gwanda denied having Elliott within their custody nor having him in their cells anytime this week. They also claim that they have not received a report of a missing person from his family.
Meanwhile, other sources say that people similar to those who took away the very vocal activist had been spotted at a drinking place in the area the previous evening where Elliott was also drinking and castigating ZANU PF and President Mugabe.
Witnesses say that Elliott was loudly denouncing Mugabe as a failure telling fellow guzzlers that they must rally behind former Vice President Joyce Mujuru to remove Mugabe.
According to sources, one of the suspected CIO agents joined in the discussion and tried to interrogate Elliott on why he was calling Mugabe old and failed which led to Elliott calling the agent names and threatening to “beat him up together with all other ZANU PF supporters and all of Mugabe’s CIOs.”
“We are very certain that the people who took him away included those who were at the bar the previous evening,” said one source.
“We can positively identify the black sedan that took him away as the very vehicle that the guys he clashed with the previous night were driving. The vehicle did not have a registration plate at the back and has very dark windows,” said the sources.
Members from his family refused to speak to media citing security concerns. Another political activist Itai Dzamara was abducted in Harare in a similar manner and has not been seen almost a year on.