Kaka, who worked for many years as an RFI correspondent in Niger and now directs private broadcaster Radio Télévision Saraounia, left his office in Niamey on Monday evening and never arrived home.

According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), his relatives and colleagues have been unable to contact him.

“The disappearance of Moussa Kaka, a well-known journalist, is particularly concerning at a time when Niger is going through a period of heightened political and security tensions,” Sadibou Marong, director of RSF’s sub-Saharan Africa bureau, said in a statement.

“RSF is following the situation closely and calls on Nigerien authorities to immediately open an investigation in order to find him and establish the circumstances of his disappearance without delay.”

Niger coup attempt: ‘Russians saved the day’

Attempted coup

Kaka’s disappearance comes after an attempted coup over the weekend that Niger said it shut down with military support from Russia.

Authorities have accused several foreign countries, including France, of being behind the unrest, without providing evidence.

RSF editorial director Anne Bocandé told RFI the lack of information about Kaka’s disappearance was particularly worrying.

“At this point we have no information about the circumstances, the context or where Moussa Kaka could be today. And given the context of political instability in Niger in recent days, this is clearly an additional source of concern for us,” she said.

Niger’s junta marks three years amid rising violence and lost freedoms

Growing pressure

Journalists in Niger, as well as activists and civil society figures, have come under increasing pressure since a military junta seized power in July 2023.

Kaka was one of six journalists arrested in October 2025 and accused of “complicity in distributing documents likely to disturb public order” – believed to be an invitation to a press briefing by the Solidarity Fund, a body Niger’s military government set up to seek donations from the public. 

After the junta used the briefing to announce workers would have to make new, mandatory contributions to the fund, critics shared the invite widely on social media. 

Kaka was later released provisionally, while the last journalist still detained in the case was freed on Friday.

Relations between Niger and former colonial power France have deteriorated since the military took power.

In May, Niger suspended all access to RFI as part of a broader crackdown on French media. RFI’s FM radio broadcasts were suspended days after the 2023 coup.