South African police have arrested French-born Beninese activist Kemi Seba, describing him as a “wanted fugitive” who was allegedly trying to flee to Europe via Zimbabwe.
Seba, 45, whose legal name is Stellio Gilles Robert Capo Chichi, was detained on Monday at a Pretoria shopping centre alongside his 18-year-old son. A third person accused of acting as a “facilitator” was also arrested. Police said the facilitator was paid about 250,000 South African rand ($15,000) to help the pair cross the Limpopo River into Zimbabwe before continuing to Europe.
According to South African police, preliminary investigations show Seba is wanted in France and Benin for “crimes against the state.” Benin issued an international warrant for his arrest after he publicly supported a failed coup attempt on December 7 last year. In a video posted that day, Seba called it “the day of liberation” for his country. The coup was foiled within hours with assistance from Nigeria and France.
Seba appeared in court on Wednesday and remains in custody. The case was postponed to April 20, with extradition proceedings underway. He has not publicly responded to the allegations.
Seba leads the NGO Pan-Africanist Emergency and has 1.5 million followers online. He is known for campaigning against French influence in Africa and for backing military governments in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. In 2024, France stripped him of his citizenship after multiple convictions for inciting racial hatred. He later burned his French passport in public, saying he had been “freed from the burden of French nationality.”
That same year, Niger’s junta granted him a diplomatic passport, naming him a “special adviser” to leader Abdourahamane Tchiani. French officials, including former National Assembly defence committee chairman Thomas Gassilloud, have accused Seba of acting as a “mouthpiece for Russian propaganda” and fueling anti-French sentiment.
Supporters say the arrest is politically motivated. “It’s an attempt to scare a prominent pan-African voice. We will fight this until Mr Seba would be released,” Sayia Moudongo of a diaspora association in Paris told the BBC.
Seba was born in France to Beninese parents and has faced accusations of anti-Semitism.
