Kisumu — Twenty-eight Kenyan fishermen have been arrested by Ugandan authorities for allegedly fishing in a section of Lake Victoria belonging to the neighboring country.

Two fishermen, one who witnessed the incident and one who escaped the Thursday night ordeal couldn't tell whether the attackers were police officers or pirates.

Kelman Sanya and his colleague Stephen Okunga said the attackers wanted to rob the fishermen of their fishing gear.

Those being detained, they said, are at Namaingo Island in Uganda.

"We were subjected to beatings and at one point we were forced to undress," said Okunga.

Their attackers who were armed with crude weapons demanded cash from the fishermen before they called in Ugandan police who led away the fishermen to the island.

"I was injured in the hand when I tried to resist. They were carrying spears, machetes, and other crude weapons, none had a gun," he said.

The fishermen wondered why they are being targeted when they fish in the Ugandan waters while fishermen from Uganda experience no violence when in the Kenyan waters.

They are appealing to the national government to come to their aid by demarcating the lake to be able to know the boundary to avoid constant harassment and arrests.

Local Beach Management Unit (BMU) officials have called for government intervention to secure the release of the arrested fishermen.