Chabi Yayi, son of former Beninese president and current opposition leader Thomas Boni Yayi, was arrested at his home early Sunday, according to relatives.
No official reason for the arrest has been provided, which comes a week after a foiled coup attempt in the country.
“At this time, we don’t know what he is accused of,” one relative told AFP. Another close friend, a member of the Democrats party—the main opposition party led by Thomas Boni Yayi—added, “We don’t know if it is linked to the events of last Sunday.”
Thomas Boni Yayi condemned the attempted coup in a video address two days after it occurred. Since the December 7 putsch attempt, several arrests have been made, including alleged participants and former Minister of Defence Candide Azannai, a key opposition figure. Azannai was placed in police 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-Africanist activist Kemi Seba, who responded defiantly in a video on Sunday. In a seven-minute statement, Seba said he had taken precautions following the warrant but did not reveal his location. “You can never stop us. We will go to the end of our fight,” he declared.
The warrant, issued on Friday, accuses Seba—whose real name is Stellio Gilles Robert Capo Chichi, 44—of “inciting rebellion” for his support of the coup bid, which he described as the country’s “day of liberation.” Seba, who leads the NGO Pan-Africanist Emergency, is known for his anti-France stance and opposition to African governments aligned with Paris. Stripped of his French nationality in 2024, he now travels on a passport issued by Niger’s military regime.
Several of the coup plotters, including their leader Lieutenant Colonel Pascal Tigri, remain at large.
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