Chabi Yayi, son of former Beninese president and opposition leader Thomas Boni Yayi, was arrested at his home early Sunday, relatives confirmed. Authorities have not disclosed a reason for the detention, which comes a week after a failed coup attempt in Benin.
“At this point, we don’t know what he is being accused of,” one family member told AFP. A close friend and member of the Democrats party—the main opposition party led by Thomas Boni Yayi—added, “We don’t know if it is connected to last Sunday’s events.”
Thomas Boni Yayi condemned the attempted coup in a video message two days after the incident. Several arrests have followed the December 7 putsch, including former Defence Minister and prominent opposition figure Candide Azannai, who was taken into custody on charges of “conspiracy against the authority of the State and incitement to rebellion.”
Benin has also issued an international arrest warrant for pan-African activist Kemi Seba. In a video statement on Sunday, Seba, whose real name is Stellio Gilles Robert Capo Chichi, responded defiantly, saying he had taken precautions after the warrant but did not reveal his location. “You can never stop us. We will go to the end of our fight,” he said.
The warrant, issued Friday, accuses Seba of “inciting rebellion” for backing the coup attempt, which he described as the country’s “day of liberation.” Seba, 44, heads the NGO Pan-Africanist Emergency and is known for his anti-France stance and support for African governments hostile to Paris. Stripped of his French nationality in 2024, he now travels with a passport issued by Niger’s military regime.
Several coup plotters, including their leader Lieutenant Colonel Pascal Tigri, remain at large.
