Journalists Adama Bayala and Alain Traoré, also known as “Alain Alain,” have been released after they went missing under unexplained circumstances. After more than a year of no information on their whereabouts and no contact with their families, the two journalists were released on Tuesday, September 16, 2025,
Adama Bayala, a commentator on the private television channel BF1, disappeared on June 28, 2024, after leaving his office in the early afternoon. Two weeks later, on July 13, Alain Traoré, host of the program Le Défouloir on Radio Oméga, was abducted from his home by armed men who identified themselves as agents of the National Intelligence Agency (ANR).
These disappearances occurred against the backdrop of a series of abductions targeting media professionals. Four days before the diappearance of Adama Bayala, Serge Atiana Oulon, publisher of the newspaper L’Événement, was abducted. To this day, Oulon remains in detention, with no official charges made public.
The authorities’ silence on the reasons for these disappearances, the conditions of detention, and the circumstances of the releases continues to raise serious concerns about respect for fundamental rights, particularly freedom of expression and the safety of journalists.
The Media Foundation for West Africa strongly condemns the prolonged and arbitrary disappearance of these journalists, which constitutes a serious violation of their human rights. We call on the Burkinabè authorities to release Serge Atiana Oulon and to ensure a safe and free environment for all media professionals, free from intimidation, abduction, and unlawful detention.
