Authorities in Zimbabwe have detained a prominent journalist known for his reporting on the country’s endemic corruption in the latest in a series of abductions of government critics.

Hopewell Chin’ono was taken from his home in Harare on Monday by eight “state security agents” who broke windows to gain entry and did not produce any warrant, his lawyer said.

Chin’ono, a well-known and internationally respected reporter, recently published documents that raised concerns that powerful individuals in Zimbabwe were profiting from multi-million-dollar deals for essential supplies to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

There have been a series of abductions of critics of the government in recent months in Zimbabwe, and dozens over the last two years.

Many detainees have been assaulted, humiliated or threatened by usually unidentified men. Several have been told not to criticise the government.

At around 11am on Monday, Chin’ono sent messages via social media to international media contacts including the Guardian saying that police had raided his home. He has not been seen since.

An opposition politician who has been organising a high-profile anti-corruption protest was also detained. Jacob Ngarivhume, leader of the small Transform Zimbabwe party, is believed to be held at Harare police station.

It is unclear exactly which faction within the fragmented ruling Zanu-PF party, the government and the security agencies in Zimbabwe was responsible for the detentions, nor if they are part of a wider effort targeting dissident voices in the country.

Job Sikhala, an opposition MP, told the Guardian he was in hiding after being warned that security agencies were looking for him too.

Nick Mangwana, Zimbabwe’s secretary for information, said on Twitter earlier today that “no profession [is] above the law”.

“Journalists are not above the law. Lawyers are not above the law. Doctors and nurses are not above the law. Politicians & bankers are not above the law. Anyone suspected to have committed a crime should be subjected to due process,” Mangwana said.

It is unclear if the tweet was connected to the detention of Chin’ono and Ngarivhume, or a reference to recent arrests for corruption in Zimbabwe.

The health minister, Obadiah Moyo, was charged last month in connection with the awarding of $60m (£47m) contract to a company that allegedly sold Covid-19 supplies to the government at inflated prices was fired by the president – a scandal that Chin’ono helped highlight.

Zimbabwe’s former tourism minister Prisca Mupfumira will appear in court next week on two counts of criminal abuse of office and concealing a transaction. She is accused of misappropriating of $95m (£75m) from the national pension fund. She has pleaded not guilty.

Zimbabwe’s government has been criticised for failing to deal with graft at a time when the country is in desperate need of an international bailout package to save the economy from collapse.

The country is also facing a looming health crisis as it continues to record more Covid-19 cases, which currently stand at 1,611. Nurses are also on strike demanding better salaries, personal protective equipment and better working conditions.

Recently, widespread online campaigns by social media influencers and NGOs have called upon the president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, to root out corruption, particularly in the public sector where it is endemic.

According to Transparency International Zimbabwe, corruption is costing the country $2bn annually.

Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) chair Loice Matanda-Moyo has often expressed frustration over the government’s lack of resolve in tackling the problem.

ZACC has drawn public ire for the “catch and release” of public officials, in which cases of graft are never concluded.