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South African police say have they arrested “wanted fugitive” French-born Beninese activist Kemi Seba while he was allegedly attempting to flee to Europe through Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n
Seba, whose real name is Stellio Gilles Robert Capo Chichi, is wanted in Benin on charges of “inciting rebellion” after supporting last year’s foiled coup there.<\/p>\n
He was arrested on Monday alongside his 18-year-old son in a sting operation at a shopping centre in Pretoria. A “facilitator” who had allegedly been paid to help them illegally cross to Zimbabwe was also detained.<\/p>\n
Seba, 45, is known for opposing French influence in Africa, backing West Africa’s military leaders and has been accused of spreading Russian propaganda.<\/p>\n
“Preliminary investigations have revealed that the father [Seba] is allegedly a wanted fugitive in France and Benin for criminal activities relating to crimes against the state,” South Africa’s police said in a statement on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The police added that the individual who was assisted Seba and his son had been paid about 250,000 South African rand ($15,000; \u00a311,000) “to help them move across the Limpopo River into Zimbabwe, with the intention to further proceed to Europe”.<\/p>\n
They remain in police custody after appearing in court on Wednesday and the case was moved to 20 April, with plans for Seba’s extradition under way.<\/p>\n
He has not commented on the allegations against him.<\/p>\n
Some of his supporters have denounced the arrest as politically motivated.<\/p>\n
“It’s an attempt to scare a prominent pan-African voice. We will fight this. We will fight this until Mr Seba would be released,” Sayia Moudongo, from a diaspora association in Paris, told the BBC.<\/p>\n
Seba was born in France to parents from Benin and is a prominent figure with 1.5 million followers online. He heads the NGO Pan-Africanist Emergency, which promotes issues related to African sovereignty and solidarity.<\/p>\n
He has been sentenced in France several times for inciting racial hatred and is often accused of anti-Semitism.<\/p>\n
In 2024, he was stripped of his French citizenship. He responded by burning his passport in public, claiming he had been “freed from the burden of French nationality”.<\/p>\n
Thomas Gassilloud, then chairman of the National Assembly’s defence committee, accused him of being a mouthpiece “for Russian propaganda” and serving “a foreign power that fuels anti-French sentiment”, according to the France24 news site.<\/p>\n
The same year, he was granted a Niger diplomatic passport that designated him a “special adviser” to the junta leader Abdourahamane Tchiani.<\/p>\n
The military leaders which seized power in Niger, as well as its neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso, have halted military co-operation with France in the fight against Islamist militants, and have instead started working with Russia.<\/p>\n
On 7 December, mutinying soldiers claimed to have overthrown the Benin president. The attempted coup was foiled within hours with help from Nigeria and France.<\/p>\n
Seba had posted a video declaring it was “the day of liberation” for his country.<\/p>\n
Benin, a former French colony, subsequently issued an international warrant for his arrest for supporting the failed coup.<\/p>\n
Additional reporting by Nicolas N\u00e9goce<\/em><\/p>\nYou may also be interested in:<\/h2>\n