Côte d’Ivoire Arrests, Extradites Beninese Journalist to Cotonou

A Beninese journalist, Comlan Hugues Sossoukpè, known for his criticism of President Patrice Talon’s government, has been arrested in Côte d’Ivoire, forcibly extradited to Benin, and is now detained in a southern Beninese prison.

Sossoukpè, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Olofofo, had been living in exile since 2019 in Lomé, Togo, where he held refugee status. According to reports, he travelled to Abidjan on July 8 on the invitation of the Ivorian government to participate in a technology forum hosted by the Ivorian Ministry of Digital Transition and Digitisation, which ran from July 9 to 11.

On the evening of July 10 however  Sossoukpè was arrested by Ivorian police in his hotel room. According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), he was swiftly escorted to the VIP lounge of Félix Houphouët-Boigny Airport in Abidjan, and placed on a private plane chartered specifically for his transfer to Cotonou.

Upon arriving in Benin, he was handed over to the Economic and Financial Brigade and presented the next morning before an investigating judge affiliated with the CRIET (Court for the Repression of Economic Offences and Terrorism). Sossoukpè now faces charges of Harassment via a Computer System, Rebellion, and Condoning Terrorism, which carry cumulatively prison sentences of up to 20 years. He is being held in the Ouidah civil prison.

This is not an isolated case. In August 2024, Beninese cyber activist Steve Amoussou, known for his social media posts which are critical of Patrice Talon was reportedly abducted in neighbouring Togo and returned to Benin. He was later sentenced to two years in prison.

It will also be recalled that the Beninese government is actively seeking the arrest of Pan-African politician and anti-colonial activist Kemi Seba. Seba has frequently denounced the Talon regime and remains a high-profile target of its ongoing clampdown on dissent.

Sources familiar with Seba’s case maintain that since he reported on France’s orders to Benin to facilitate an ECOWAS-led military attack on Niger following the July 2023 coup, President Talon’s regime has treated him like a criminal.

In 2023, Seba revealed the concealed presence of French troops in Benin, which the Beninese government vehemently denied, before Beninese soldiers the following year confirmed the existence of the base in Kandi, northwestern Benin, roughly 50KM from the country’s border with Burkina Faso.

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