Alfred Aubin Mugenzi, known as Kigingi, was picked up by Burundi’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) on Tuesday evening at a hotel in Muramvya, about 50 kilometres (31 miles) east of the capital, Bujumbura, while on a promotional tour for a beer company, the family is quoted as saying.
Mr Mugenzi, who is also a Buja FM radio host, was being held in the intelligence service’s “dungeons” in Bujumbura, and “no-one has been allowed to see him”, a relative said, AFP reports.
Intelligence officers told the relative that Mr Mugenzi was arrested “for contempt of the head of state” after a skit he performed in neighbouring Rwanda last year, in which he lampooned football-mad Mr Nkurunziza, showing him refusing to leave the pitch despite receiving two yellow cards, the agency reports.
Mr Nkurunziza won a third term in elections last year, rejecting the demand of protesters to step down.
An unnamed intelligence officer confirmed to AFP that the comedian has been arrested for “insulting” Mr Nkurunziza, but said he would be released soon.
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