Kémi Séba, the Beninese activist and former leader of the dissolved antisemitic group Tribu Ka, has been arrested in Pretoria following a failed coup attempt in Benin on December 7, 2025.
Now stripped of his French nationality, Séba faces grave charges of conspiracy against state security. Leaked audio recordings from October 2025 allegedly link him to terror plots involving snipers and grenade attacks targeting political figures and public festivals. Beyond his local subversion, he is widely condemned as a Kremlin propagandist, using "anti-imperialist" rhetoric to serve Russian interests in Africa. His arrest marks a definitive shift from political activism to suspected international terrorism and state sedition.
Now stripped of his French citizenship and facing an international arrest warrant, Beninese activist Kémi Séba appears to have crossed the point of no return. Between antisemitic drift, allegiance to the Kremlin, and suspicions of terrorism, here is a portrait of a man who traded activism for sedition.
By the Editorial Staff
The noose is tightening around Stellio Capo Chichi, better known as Kémi Séba. The man who dreams of being the new herald of Pan-Africanism has just been arrested by South African authorities. This detention marks a crucial step for the Beninese justice system, which suspects him of playing a leading role in the bloody coup attempt on December 7, 2025, in Cotonou.
From Supremacism to Sedition
Kémi Séba’s journey is a long slide into identity politics and radicalism. As early as 2006, he gained notoriety as the head of Tribu Ka, a Black supremacist group. Many still remember with horror the group’s march through the Rue des Rosiers in Paris, where his followers hurled antisemitic insults before the collective was dissolved by the French government for inciting hatred.
Twenty years later, while his rhetoric has mutated into “anti-imperialist” discourse, his methods remain rooted in intimidation. On December 12, Beninese authorities officially issued an arrest warrant against him for conspiracy against state security. The warrant stems from a video published during the failed putsch, in which he celebrated the (fictitious) arrest of President Patrice Talon, hailing the rebels as “patriotic soldiers.”
The “Mercenary” of Russian Propaganda
Beyond his local ambitions, Séba is now perceived as one of the primary conduits for Russian propaganda on the African continent. Since the invasion of Ukraine, his proximity to Kremlin influence networks has been an open secret. This collusion notably led the French parliamentary channel (LCP) to cancel a broadcast dedicated to him in March 2023, refusing to provide a platform for a vector of foreign disinformation.
Terrifying Terrorist Plots
However, the darkest revelations come from leaked audio recordings dating from October 2025. In them, the activist is heard discussing projects of unprecedented violence in Cotonou and other major Beninese cities with an individual named “Agbaza.” Far from the promised “liberation,” the two men discuss targeted assassinations of political figures and grenade attacks on public gatherings such as the Vodun Days, an event that draws millions of people.
The mention of snipers and explosives targeting both civilians and officials paints a portrait of a man ready to sacrifice his home country’s stability on the altar of his ego and murky geopolitical alliances. For Kémi Séba, the “moment of reckoning” seems to have finally arrived, though not the one he anticipated: he must now answer to the law.
