DSS Arrests Edo Activist Over Solidarity Rally for Burkina Faso’s Traoré
Operatives of Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS) have arrested a prominent Edo-based activist, Comrade Kola Edokpayi, alongside five others, over a proposed Pan-African solidarity rally in support of Burkina Faso’s revolutionary leader, Captain Ibrahim Traoré.
The arrest, which occurred on Saturday, May 3, 2025, in Benin City, has sparked widespread condemnation from civil society groups, human rights organisations, and Pan-African movements across the continent. Critics have labelled the action as a gross violation of fundamental rights and an act of political repression.
Edokpayi, who leads the grassroots movement Talakawa Parliament, reportedly planned the rally as part of a broader mobilisation across Africa to show support for Traoré’s anti-colonial stance. Similar events were also planned in Ghana and South Africa.
According to a source close to the activist, the Edo State Commissioner of Police had earlier urged Edokpayi to cancel the rally, which he did. “He complied and sent out people to call it off. But DSS and police still stormed his office, broke in, and arrested six people. Four were later released, but Edokpayi and one other are still detained,” the source said.
The Edo chapter of the Take It Back Movement (TIB) condemned the arrest in a statement signed by its coordinator, Comrade Hafiz Lawal. “This is an unlawful and morally indefensible attack on the constitutional rights of a Nigerian citizen,” the group said, citing Sections 38, 39, and 40 of the 1999 Constitution, which guarantee freedom of thought, expression, and association.
TIB demanded Edokpayi’s immediate release and criticised Nigerian security forces for “weaponising state power against dissenting voices.”
An online statement from a Pan-African activist also denounced the arrest, warning against the suppression of Pan-African ideals. “Arresting Kola Edokpayi for supporting Ibrahim Traoré is unjust. Pan-Africanism must not be silenced; it should be promoted by African nations,” the activist said.
As calls for Edokpayi’s release intensify, the DSS is yet to issue an official statement on the arrest.
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