Dakar, September 11, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Togolese authorities to investigate the
seizure
and assault of journalist Roland Yaovi Kodjo, prosecute those responsible, and ensure journalists’ safety, after armed men kidnapped Kodjo on September 5 and released him hours later after realizing they had targeted the wrong man.
“The kidnapping and assault of Roland Yaovi Kodjo is a grave act of intimidation that must not be allowed to go unpunished,” said Moussa Ngom, CPJ’s Francophone Africa representative. “Togolese authorities must hold the perpetrators to account and ensure a safe working environment for the press.”
Kodjo’s abduction is at least the third seizure of a journalist that CPJ has documented in sub-Saharan Africa this month, raising concerns about a broader pattern of intimidation and violence against members of the press.
On Saturday, a man approached Kodjo, a sports and culture reporter and camera operator for Tampa TV, while he was covering a traditional festival in the northern town of Guérin-Kouka, the journalist told CPJ.
Kodjo said the man asked whether he worked for the TAMPA press group, which includes the Tampa Express newspaper, and told the journalist to follow him. The man pushed Kodjo into a vehicle with three other men, one wearing a police uniform, who handcuffed and blindfolded him, the journalist said.
One of the men asked, “You’re the one who writes about the authorities, aren’t you? Are you the one who sullies the image of the authorities?” Kodjo said, adding that at this point he realized they had confused him with the group’s publishing director
Francisco Napo-Koura
.
Napo-Koura regularly
discusses
politics and public affairs on
programs
and
Tampa Express
has been suspended and
sued
for defamation for its critical reporting.
Slapped and punched
“They then slapped me and punched me in the chest to force me to tell them where to find my boss, which I refused,” Kodjo said, adding t
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