Roland Yaovi Kodjo, a Lomé based reporter for the private media outlet Tampa TV, was abducted on Saturday, September 5, 2026, while covering the traditional D’Pontre/N’nidak festival of the Bassar-Konkomba people at the Municipal Stadium, in the Northern region of Togo.
According to testimony gathered from Tampa TV’s management, Kodjo was photographing participants after the festival’s activities when a man approached him and asked to have his photo taken. The man asked, “Are you Tampa?” Kodjo answered in the affirmative, without suspecting anything.
Kodjo followed the man, carrying his equipment to the stadium’s exit where a black Prado suddenly stopped in front of him. Before he could understand what was happening, he was forcibly seized, handcuffed with his hands behind his back, blindfolded and forced into the vehicle.
As the vehicle drove away from the stadium, Kodjo heard his abductors ask: “Are you the one who has been criticising our bosses?”
Shortly afterwards, the driver of the vehicle received a phone call and spoke in Ife, a language spoken in the Plateaux region of Togo, more precisely in Atakpamé. Recognising it, Kodjo told the driver, “You speak my language. You are from my region.” He was subsequently released in a bushy area, about 50 kilometres from the Stadium.
Although Kodjo was freed, the psychological scars of the ordeal haunt the journalist.
“He remains traumatised and had to receive psychological support,” Tampa TV’s management told the MFWA.
The management further explained that the abductors appeared confused when they heard Kodjo speak Ife, which is why they believe he was released. Francisco Napo-Koura, publishing director of the TAMPA group, which includes the newspaper Tampa Express is believed to have been the intended target.
This incident illustrates the hostile environment in which journalists and independent media operate in Togo. Tampa TV is among the newsrooms regularly targeted by individuals unhappy with its investigations and editorial independence.
“We have been summoned several times by the authorities over our reporting in the past. Our media outlet is frequently targeted. And some people send us warnings about threats that could be directed against us,” the media outlet’s management told the MFWA.
The MFWA condemns this attack on the safety of a journalist. We call on the authorities to open an investigation into the abduction, identify the abductors and hold them to account, in order to prevent further attacks against media professionals. We also urge the authorities to prioritise the the protection of journalists, particularly those working for independent and critical media outlets in Togo.
