Chabi Yayi, son of former Beninese president and current opposition leader, Thomas Boni Yayi, was arrested at his residence early on Sunday, according to family members.
Relatives said no explanation was provided for the arrest, which occurred about a week after an attempted coup was foiled in Benin.
“At this time, we don’t know what he is accused of,” one relative told AFP.
Another close associate, a member of the Democrats party — the country’s main opposition party led by Yayi — said, “We don’t know if it is linked to the events of last Sunday.”
Thomas Boni Yayi had earlier condemned the failed coup in a video address delivered two days after the incident.
Authorities have made several arrests following the December 7 putsch attempt. Among those detained is a former minister of defence and prominent opposition figure, Candide Azannai.
Azannai was placed in police custody for “conspiracy against the authority of the State and incitement to rebellion”.
Beninese authorities have also issued an international arrest warrant for pan-Africanist and anti-Western activist Kemi Seba, who released a defiant video message on Sunday.
In a seven-minute-long statement, Seba said he had taken precautions since the issuing of the warrant against him, though he did not say in which country he was.
“You can never stop us,” he added. “We will go to the end of our fight.”
The warrant, issued on Friday, accuses Seba of “inciting rebellion” over his public backing of the coup attempt, which he described as the country’s “day of liberation”.
Seba, whose real name is Stellio Gilles Robert Capo Chichi, 44, leads the NGO Pan-Africanist Emergency and is known for his outspoken criticism of France and African governments aligned with Paris.
He has 1.5 million followers on social media. Born Franco-Beninese, Seba lost his French citizenship in 2024. He supports the military regimes that seized power through coups in the Sahel region — governments hostile to Paris and aligned with Russia.
He now travels using a passport issued by Niger’s military government, a country that shares a border with Benin.
Meanwhile, several individuals involved in the failed coup, including its leader, Lieutenant Colonel Pascal Tigri, remain at large.
(AFP)
Post A Comment: