PANews reported on May 20 that according to Bitcoin.com, Festo Ivaibi, founder of the Ugandan blockchain education institution Mitroplus Labs, was kidnapped by an armed criminal group on May 17. The criminals disguised themselves as security personnel, intercepted Ivaibi near his residence, and demanded $500,000 and access to cryptocurrency wallets. After succeeding, the kidnappers abandoned the victim and sold Afro, the Meme coin issued by Mitroplus Labs, causing a brief drop in the token's price. Currently, the Uganda Revenue Authority has opened a police command center to retrieve surveillance footage to assist in the investigation. Mitroplus Labs stated that community funds were not affected by this incident. Ivaibi himself, as a registered cryptocurrency trader, regularly declares and pays taxes to the tax department.
Ivaibi revealed that 48 similar cases have occurred in Uganda, with 7 involving the same criminal group. Since the country has not yet recognized the legal status of cryptocurrencies, the police often refuse to file cases on the grounds of "unregulated personal risk". It is worth noting that shortly before this incident, the daughter of a Paris exchange CEO also experienced an attempted kidnapping, prompting the French government to announce strengthened protection measures for crypto practitioners.
