As Niamey temporarily revokes the nationality of several of its own citizens, the regime of General Abdourahamane Tiani continues to extend political protection to Kemi Seba, a Beninese national wanted by his country’s courts. This glaring contradiction threatens to further complicate the delicate reconciliation process between Niger and Benin.
The Kemi Seba case takes on a new dimension
The Kemi Seba affair has entered a new phase. Arrested in South Africa in April 2026, the Beninese activist is now the subject of an extradition procedure to Benin. Cotonou is seeking him in connection with the attempted coup of December 7, 2025. Beninese authorities accuse him of supporting the putschists and have issued arrest warrants against him. Kemi Seba denies the charges.
Since then, his focus has turned to Niger.
And that is no coincidence.
Diplomatic passport and special advisor status
Kemi Seba holds a Nigerien diplomatic passport and the status of special advisor to General Abdourahamane Tiani, positions he obtained in 2024. It was thanks to this diplomatic passport that he reportedly entered South Africa in late 2025.
Niger thus appears today as a central element of the activist’s defense strategy against Benin’s extradition request.
This situation raises a particularly awkward political question for Niamey: how can the Nigerien authorities justify granting institutional protection to a Beninese national wanted by Cotonou’s courts, while simultaneously stripping several of its own citizens of their nationality?
Nigeriens stripped, a Beninese protected
The contrast is striking.
On September 17, 2026, Abdourahamane Tiani signed a decree provisionally stripping five individuals of their Nigerien nationality: former Prime Minister Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou, along with four other Nigeriens, including former associates of Mohamed Bazoum and a social media activist. The Nigerien government accuses them of intelligence with foreign powers, undermining state security, disseminating data likely to disturb public order, and activities that could disrupt public peace and security.
These are provisional revocations, based on an ordinance adopted in 2024. According to the Nigerien Press Agency, this latest decision brings the total number of people provisionally stripped of their nationality to 25 since the measure was introduced.
Niamey authorities present these measures as necessary to defend fundamental interests and national security.
But their proliferation has also fueled controversy over the political use of nationality. Human Rights Watch believes the mechanism raises serious concerns regarding human rights and procedural safeguards.
It is against this backdrop that the Kemi Seba case stands out.
But politically, the symbolism remains powerful.
On one side, Nigeriens are provisionally deprived of their nationality in the name of protecting the state and its fundamental interests. On the other, a Beninese national, long engaged in radically hostile rhetoric against Western influence, enjoys official status with the Nigerien head of state and a diplomatic passport.
The contrast could not be more visible.
Kemi Seba, an increasingly cumbersome figure
Kemi Seba is not an outside observer of the sub-region’s political tensions.
A pan-African activist and well-known figure for his attacks on France and Western influence in Africa, he has in recent years moved closer to the military regimes of the Sahel. His rapprochement with Niamey materialized in particular through his appointment as special advisor to Tiani.
His stance toward Benin is also particularly confrontational.
After the attempted coup of December 7, 2025, Kemi Seba was targeted by Beninese arrest warrants. According to Cotonou authorities, his statements and certain videos broadcast at the time of the events constituted support for those attempting to overthrow the government. Benin subsequently initiated a procedure seeking his extradition from South Africa.
But politically, the problem remains for Niamey.
For Kemi Seba is now directly associated with an affair that touches on Benin’s political stability. And the fact that this man enjoys official status with the Nigerien president cannot go unnoticed in Cotonou.
A fragile rapprochement between Niamey and Cotonou
This case comes at a particularly delicate moment in relations between the two neighbors.
After several years of tensions following the July 2023 coup in Niger, Niamey and Cotonou recently began re-engaging in dialogue.
On June 2, 2026, Beninese President Romuald Wadagni traveled to Niamey for a meeting with Abdourahamane Tiani. The Beninese presidency presented the visit as a sign of warming relations and a willingness to revive bilateral cooperation.
This desire for rapprochement is strategic for both states.
Niger and Benin are neighbors. They share economic interests, populations living on both sides of the border, and common security challenges. Their cooperation is also important for trade and the movement of people and goods.
Any deterioration of trust between Niamey and Cotonou therefore has consequences that go far beyond the diplomatic arena.
That is why the Kemi Seba case comes at a bad time.
As the two countries try to turn the page on years of confrontation, maintaining a privileged relationship between the Nigerien authorities and a man wanted by Beninese justice risks fueling misunderstandings.
Tiani’s political paradox
The problem facing Niamey is not whether Kemi Seba is guilty or innocent. That question belongs to the courts.
It is rather about the political message sent by the Nigerien authorities.
Tiani claims to place national sovereignty, the defense of Niger’s fundamental interests, and the fight against external threats at the heart of his actions. In this logic, Nigeriens accused of undermining state security can be hit with a measure as heavy as provisional revocation of nationality.
But at the same time, Niamey maintains an institutional closeness to Kemi Seba, a foreign national whose country of origin is now demanding his extradition.
This difference in treatment inevitably raises a question of coherence.
Can sovereignty be invoked to severely punish Nigerien citizens while serving as a shield for a foreign national wanted by a neighboring state’s justice system?
It is precisely this question that risks haunting the relationship between Niamey and Cotonou.
Reconciliation tested by Kemi Seba
Normalization between Niger and Benin cannot rest solely on meetings between leaders and declarations of intent.
It will also require gestures capable of restoring trust.
Yet in the Kemi Seba case, Niamey finds itself in a delicate position. By granting the activist a diplomatic passport and an official function, Tiani’s government created an institutional link that goes far beyond a simple relationship with a foreign militant.
Today, that choice is back in the spotlight at the very moment Benin is demanding his handover.
Niger can naturally defend its sovereign choices. Benin can, for its part, pursue the legal procedures it deems necessary. And South Africa remains sovereign in the decision it will make at the end of the extradition process.
But politically, one reality is unavoidable: the protection granted to Kemi Seba complicates the rapprochement between Niamey and Cotonou.
The paradox is all the more striking because this protection comes as the Nigerien regime simultaneously hardens its policy toward several of its own citizens.
Between the provisional revocation of nationality for Nigeriens accused of harming state interests and the diplomatic passport granted to a Beninese national wanted by Cotonou, Tiani’s government will sooner or later have to answer a question of political coherence.
For if Niamey truly wants to restore lasting relations with Cotonou, it will need to demonstrate that the rapprochement between the two countries does not stop at official ceremonies.
Reconciliation is also built on trust. And in the Kemi Seba affair, that trust remains visibly fragile.
