Cotonou — Chabi Yayi, son of former Beninese president and opposition leader Thomas Boni Yayi, was arrested at his home in the early hours of Sunday, relatives said, as authorities widen a crackdown following last week’s failed coup attempt.
Family members told AFP they were not informed of the charges or the reasons for his arrest.
“At this time, we don’t know what he is accused of,” one relative said.
“We don’t know if it is linked to the events of last Sunday,” added another close associate, a member of the opposition Democrats party led by Thomas Boni Yayi.
The arrest comes a week after an abortive putsch on December 7, which the government says was aimed at toppling the authorities. Former president Boni Yayi publicly condemned the coup in a video address two days later.
Since the attempt, security forces have carried out a series of arrests targeting alleged plotters and opposition figures. Among those detained is former defence minister and prominent opposition politician Candide Azannai, who has been placed in police custody on accusations of “conspiracy against the authority of the State and incitement to rebellion.”
Authorities have also issued an international arrest warrant for Kemi Seba, a high-profile pan-African activist known for his fierce criticism of France and West-aligned African governments. The warrant, issued Friday, accuses him of “inciting rebellion” over his vocal support for the coup, which he hailed as Benin’s “day of liberation.”
In a seven-minute video response, Seba said he had already taken precautions following the warrant and vowed to continue his activism.
“You can never stop us,” he declared. “We will go to the end of our fight.”
Seba, born Stellio Gilles Robert Capo Chichi, heads the NGO Urgence Panafricaniste and has built a large online following. Once Franco-Beninese, he was stripped of his French nationality in 2024 and now travels on a passport issued by Niger’s military junta.
Benin, long seen as relatively stable, has in recent years been identified as a major cocaine transit hub, and its politics have increasingly intersected with security concerns. The government says several participants in the failed coup remain at large, including their alleged leader, Lieutenant Colonel Pascal Tigri, as the manhunt and politically charged investigations continue.
