Spontaneous protests have erupted in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, after police arrested Bobi Wine, a musician and opposition politician who is seeking the presidency in next year’s election.

The Washington Post reported Bobi Wine’s supporters had erected barricades and burned tires, prompting police to fire tear gas to disperse the protesters.

Kampala Metropolitan police have not yet issued a statement.

 “The streets are empty ... We have closed the business because of tear gas and bullets,” the chairman of the Kampala City Traders Association was quoted as saying.

The protests broke out after Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, was arrested in the eastern town of Luuka and taken to a police station in the city of Jinja. It was not clear why the presidential candidate was arrested.

In a statement issued before Wine’s arrest on Wednesday, police had warned that presidential candidates would be arrested if they flouted guidelines limiting attendance at rallies to 200 people during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wine, who has been arrested many times in recent years, has captured the imagination of many Ugandans with his calls for President Yoweri Museveni to retire after more than three decades in power.