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Pan-Africanist Kemi Seba Arrested & Released in Benin: What We Know

© AFP 2023 STEPHANE DE SAKUTINFrench anti-colonial activist Kemi Seba addresses a press conference on June 26, 2020 in Paris.
French anti-colonial activist Kemi Seba  addresses a press conference on June 26, 2020 in Paris.  - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 16.09.2023
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On 15 September, Kemi Seba was arrested at a Beninese airport, but released a few hours later, the next day. He is expected in Niamey in the coming days to reiterate his support for the new authorities in Niger. The activist has previously given several interviews to Sputnik Africa.
Activist Kemi Seba and his colleagues Hery and Seth were released a few hours after their arrest at Cotonou airport in Benin.
On the evening of September 15, the head of the Pan-Africanist Emergency NGO and his colleagues were arrested as they prepared to board a plane.

"Kemi Seba was transferred to the general direction of the national police in Cotonou, where he is detained without valid reason alongside one of his advisors […] We are mobilizing all our means to have him released," the Franco-Spanish lawyer Juan Branco declared on Friday.

Kemi Seba - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 23.08.2023
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'We will not give up'

The next day, when Seba and his colleagues were released, a pan-Africanist activist Nathalie Yamb shared some details of this arrest:
"The reasons given during their custody are incitement to insurrection and money laundering."
According to Yamb, "these maneuvers fool no one." She added that "they tend to prevent those who are fighting for the liberation of Africa from waging their struggle. We will not give up."
Kemi Seba is due to arrive in Niamey soon to show his support for the new authorities in Niger. They took power after a military takeover that was criticized by several countries, including France. These countries support an intervention in Niger by the regional bloc Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), including a military intervention if necessary.

"No French embassy in Africa will be safe in the event of an attack by ECOWAS against Niger," Kemi Seba previously declared. "And every African leader who participates in this act of treason will face an imminent takeover in their own country. This is not a wish, but a simple forward-looking analysis."

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