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WAKISO - Police said Thursday they had released all journalists detained during operations against National Unity Platform (NUP) supporters. 

Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesman, Patrick Onyango, said all 14 journalists are now free after being “briefly detained at Entebbe Police Station." 

He added none of the journalists were held in Police cells. 

"However, we have since received reports indicating that some of them may have been subjected to physical harm,” he said, adding that investigations are being conducted to establish the veracity of the reports. 

"We are committed to identifying the affected journalists and conducting thorough investigations into these incidents,” he said. 

He noted, however, that none of the journalists had initially reported any assaults "while they were in our custody.” 

Although the Police did not name the affected journalists, reports indicated some of the journalists affected are employees of Next Media, identified as Francis Insano and Julius Kitone. 

The report said in addition to the arrests, their equipment was damaged. The attack is said to have occurred at Mpala pay toll. 

Earlier, NUP said its leader Robert Kyagulanyi had been picked by security operatives at Entebbe International Airport upon arrival and whisked away. 

"He was picked off the plane and driven to an unknown destination. Up to now, we cannot speculate his whereabouts," NUP Secretary General, David Lewis Rubongoya told journalists at a security checkpoint along Entebbe-Kampala highway where he had been blocked from proceeding to the airport. 

However, it later emerged that Kyagulanyi was driven to his home in an act of preventive arrest.  

He had been returning from a tour that took him to several countries including Canada and South Africa. 

The Police had warned supporters not to line up and form processions to receive him after plans had been announced in what they called the One Million March, to receive Kyagulanyi. 

“The organisers of this welcome back event are advised to stop mobilising and members of the public are also advised not to participate in an illegality. Security agencies will make sure that no one engages in illegal procession and whoever will be arrested will be taken to courts of law,” said Patrick Onyango, the Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson, a day before Kyagulanyi returned. 

“Such a procession has the potential to disrupt the normal flow of traffic, the movement of individuals, and the operations of businesses along the Entebbe–Gayaza highway. It may also attract criminal activities, posing risks to bystanders, motorists, passengers, and businesses through acts of theft or other criminal activities,” he added.