Togolese journalist kidnapped, assaulted in a case of mistaken identity

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 that he was released hours later, still blindfolded, in a village near the Ghanaian border, 55 kilometers away. 

Kodjo said his attackers ordered him not to tell his employer about the incident or he risked being jailed or killed. 

Napo-Koura said he wrote to the government regulator, the High Authority for the Regulation of Written, Audiovisual, and Digital Communication (HARC), to request its assistance “to shed full light on this kidnapping case” by pushing for an official investigation.

“The TAMPA group vigorously protests against these despicable acts, which seriously hinder the exercise of the profession of journalist in Togo,” his letter said. 

Napo-Koura told CPJ that his car was broken into and his work computer was stolen in late July in the capital, Lomé.

The Togolese Press Employers’ union (PPT) called for government action “to prevent Togo from becoming a haven for kidnappers of independent journalists, a place where impunity reigns.”

Meanwhile, also on September 5, Kananelo Boloetse, a human rights defender and news editor of Lesotho’s Newsday, was seized from his home in the capital, Maseru, by armed men and forced into a vehicle where he was punched, slapped, and questioned about his work, and then driven to Thaba-Bosiu, about 25 kilometers east, where he was beaten and dumped. 

Similarly, on September 1, Alex Kiprotich, an editor with Kenya’s Standard Group, was forced out of his vehicle by armed men, whom local media allege were police officers, questioned about his journalism, and left 230 kilometers away. 

In 2024, at least six Togolese journalists were brutally attacked by unidentified assailants while covering an opposition party meeting. At the time, police said they had opened an investigation, but “there have been no developments in the case,” Albert Agbeko, one of the journalists, told CPJ on September 10, 2026.

CPJ’s calls to request comment from the Togolese police went unanswered.