Burkina Faso’s former military ruler, who is accused of orchestrating a failed bid to assassinte his successor Captain Ibrahim Traoré, has been extradited from Togo and now faces multiple charges.
The Burkinabe justice minister on Wednesday confirmed the extradition of Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba from Togo to Burkina Faso.
The former leader, ousted in September 2022, was handed over to the authorities in Ouagadougou on January 17.
Togolese officials Tuesday announced that Damiba’s extradition was carried out following a request submitted on January 12, 2026, by Burkina Faso’s judicial authorities, days after Ouagadougou revealed that a plot to kill Captain Traore had been foiled.
According to an official statement from Burkina Faso’s justice ministry, signed by Attorney Edasso Rodrigue Bayala, Damiba has been under formal judicial investigation since January 6, 2026, for a number of serious offences.
He is being prosecuted in particular for embezzlement of public funds, criminal illicit enrichment, corruption, incitement to commit crimes and offences, aggravated handling of stolen goods, and money laundering.
The former lieutenant-colonel, who led Burkina Faso from January to September 2022 before being overthrown by Captain Traoré, is also accused of being the mastermind for the failed plot to assassinate the Burkina Faso’s current leader.
On January 6, 2026, Burkina Faso’s Minister of Security, Mahamoudou Sana, disclosed on national television that a destabilisation attempt planned for January 3 had been thwarted by intelligence operatives.
According to the authorities in Ouagadougou, the operation was to begin with the assassination of President Traoré, “either at point-blank range or through an action aimed at rigging his residence with mines,” followed by the disabling of the drone base and a ground military intervention by external forces.
Paul-Henri Damiba, who had been living in exile in Togo since his ouster, was named as the principal instigator, responsible for “designing and planning the actions, sourcing and mobilising funds, and recruiting civilians and military personnel.”
Minister Sana also revealed that “a significant portion” of the funding originated from Côte d’Ivoire, with “the most recent amounting to 70 million CFA francs.”
Damiba’s extradition procedure was initiated following a complaint filed on January 5, 2026, with the prosecutor’s office at the Ouaga I High Court.
An investigating judge issued an international arrest warrant against Damiba on January 6, before requesting judicial cooperation from Togo.
Damiba was arrested in Lomé on January 16, 2026, in execution of the warrant—just ten days after the Burkinabè authorities’ revelations. On the same day, the Indictments Chamber of the Lomé Court of Appeal issued ruling No. 013/2026 authorising the former military officer’s extradition to his home country following a public hearing.
The decision was based on “the offer of reciprocity from the Burkinabè authorities, the international instruments to which Togo is a party, and the guarantees provided by those authorities regarding respect for the physical integrity and dignity” of the suspect, as well as his right to a fair trial and the absence of the death penalty.
The charges brought against Damiba are provided for and punishable under several provisions of Burkina Faso’s Penal Code, as well as Law No. 046-2024/ALT of December 30, 2024, on combating money laundering, terrorist financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
In his statement, Minister Bayala expressed “the gratitude of the Government of Burkina Faso to the authorities of the sister Republic of Togo for this exemplary judicial cooperation, which reflects the strong relations between our two states.”
The former leader was handed over to Burkinabè authorities on January 17, 2026, according to a Togolese government statement dated January 19 in Lomé.
This is not the first time the former president has been implicated in an alleged attempt to destabilise the current regime. On September 23, 2024, Minister Sana announced the dismantling of a destabilisation network involving Damiba.
The former transitional president was struck off the rolls of the Burkinabè Armed Forces by presidential decree on October 30, 2024, for a “particularly serious offence consisting of a grave attack on military dignity and the reputation of the army, characterised by intelligence activities with a foreign power and terrorist groups, with a view to facilitating their actions against Burkina Faso.”
Burkinabè authorities have stated that arrests are continuing and that “all individuals involved in this case will be brought before the Faso prosecutor, and the full force of the law will be applied.”
HO/ac/lb/as/APA