TNR Watch: Benin’s Transnational Targeting of Government Critics

Forced Return: On July 10, Ivorian law enforcement, reportedly in cooperation with Beninese officers, detained Beninese journalist and government critic Hugues Comlan Sossoukpè at his hotel room in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Instead of presenting him before a judge to begin extradition proceedings, the police transported Sossoukpè to the airport and summarily deported him on a private flight to Benin, where a court charged him with cyber harassment, incitement to hatred, and support for terrorism four days later. Having faced threats in Benin over his journalistic work, Sossoukpè has held refugee status in Togo since 2021.

Sossoukpè had traveled to Côte d’Ivoire for a government-sponsored tech conference on the invitation of Ivorian officials. His lawyer told Reporters Without Borders (RSF) that his client had received threats, including while in Togo, during the months leading up to the forum.

Déjà vu: Sossoukpè is not the first Beninese dissident to be unlawfully returned to Benin from a nearby country. In August 2024, several individuals kidnapped exiled Beninese activist Steve Amoussou from his apartment in Lomé, Togo. He was taken to Cotonou, Benin, where he faced the same court in which Sossoukpè was charged. After spending nine months in detention, Amoussou received a two-year prison sentence in June 2025 for cyberbullying, incitement to rebellion, and spreading false news and insults against a political group. The charges reportedly were connected to pseudonymous social media posts critical of Beninese President Patrice Talon.

Togolese authorities investigating the kidnapping issued arrest warrants for four individuals and additionally detained a Beninese woman, who allegedly guided Amoussou’s captors to the activist’s residence, and a motorcyclist allegedly involved in transporting the kidnappers to Lomé. Although two of the four individuals wanted by Togo were eventually convicted and imprisoned in Benin for carrying out an illegal arrest, the ongoing imprisonment of Amoussou underscores the Beninese government’s targeting of antigovernment activists.

Corrosive Cooperation: The purported role of Ivorian officers in Sossoukpè’s forced return to Benin highlights how cooperation between host and perpetrator countries enables transnational repression. The activist had previously criticized unfair elections in his home country of Benin, and his expulsion came as Ivorian authorities have begun to arrest Ivorian opposition figures in the run-up to the country’s October presidential election. While much attention has focused on the increasing cooperation between military juntas in sub-Saharan Africa, it is clear that civilian leaders in the region are also capable of collaboration that endangers activists.