In their strongest rebuke yet of President Emmerson Mnangagwa since he took over in 2017, church leaders said abductions of government critics had reached alarming levels.

Initially the government blamed the abductions on an alleged third force comprised of disgruntled security agents from the previous Mugabe regime, but of late the authorities dismiss them as stunts by the opposition to attract the attention of the international community.

Nelson Chamisa, the MDC Alliance leader, appealed to the international community to intervene in Zimbabwe saying President Mnangagwa was using the Covid-19 induced lockdown to crush the opposition.

The MDC Alliance has since written to the UN special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of punishment, Nils Melzer, asking for an investigation into the abduction of the activists.

The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC), a quasi-government body, called for investigations into the mounting cases of abductions.