The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is calling on authorities in Burkina Faso to immediately release journalists Guézouma Sanogo, Boukari Ouoba, and Luc Pagbelguem, following their recent appearance in a video wearing military uniforms—raising alarm over the growing trend of forcibly conscripting media professionals.
“The video showing detained Burkinabe journalists Guézouma Sanogo, Boukari Ouoba, and Luc Pagbelguem wearing military uniforms reinforces fears about the fate of the seven journalists kidnapped since June 2024, six of whom are now certain to have been forcibly conscripted into the army,” said Moussa Ngom, CPJ’s Francophone Africa representative. “Authorities must stop their efforts to censor the press by forcing journalists into military service and allow them to return to their homes and work.”
In the two-minute video, shared widely on Facebook since Wednesday, the three journalists are seen in uniform at an undisclosed location, flanked by armed men—some identifiable as members of the Burkinabe military. A representative of the Association of Burkinabe Journalists (AJB), speaking anonymously for security reasons, confirmed to CPJ that the men are indeed Sanogo, Ouoba, and Pagbelguem, who have been missing since March 24.
Sanogo serves as the president of the AJB, while Ouoba is the vice president. Pagbelguem is a reporter with privately owned broadcaster BF1.
In the video, Pagbelguem states that “the real information on the ground” differs from public perception, while Ouoba adds that “no one can report on the security situation while being in Ouagadougou.” It remains unclear whether the statements were made freely or under coercion.
The arrests began on March 24, when two intelligence officers from the National Security Council detained Pagbelguem at his media office. He was reportedly questioned over a March 22 report on an AJB meeting, during which Sanogo criticized the authorities for abducting journalists. Sanogo and Ouoba were arrested earlier the same day.
The video has amplified concerns about a disturbing pattern: three other journalists — Serge Atiana Oulon, Adama Bayala, and Kalifara Séré — were forcibly conscripted into the army after disappearing in June 2024. Another, Alain Traoré, was abducted by masked men in July, and his whereabouts remain unknown.
CPJ’s efforts to obtain comment from Prime Minister Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo, government spokesperson Pingdwendé Gilbert Ouedraogo, and the Ministry of Defense have gone unanswered.
