Niger: RSF refers the disappearance of journalist Moussa Kaka, missing since August 31, to the UN

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) referred the case of Nigerien journalist Moussa Kaka, who has not been heard from since August 31, 2026, to the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances on September 28, 2026. The organization announced this on its website in early October and is calling on the Nigerien authorities to investigate the circumstances of this disappearance and to allow the journalist to be reunited with his family.

Moussa Kaka, who has forty years of experience in the profession, manages Radio Télévision Saraounia. He was long the RFI correspondent in Niger. According to RSF, he disappeared after leaving his office in the Kalley Est district of Niamey and never arrived at his home in Lossogoungou. His vehicle remains missing. The organization notes that his disappearance occurred two days after military mutinies were reported at several sites in the capital.

A citizen investigation, silent authorities

On September 29, 2026, the civil society collective G25-Niger made its own findings public. It claims that the journalist was being followed by "secret services" and that his vehicle was immobilized and then taken near the Gadafawa roundabout. RSF states that it is unable to independently verify these details. No official communication from the Nigerien authorities regarding the journalist's fate has been noted, according to the French-speaking Africa press review published by AllAfrica on October 3, 2026.

This is not the first action RSF has taken in this case. On September 16, 2026, the organization had already referred the matter to the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights. Sadibou Marong, who heads its sub-Saharan Africa bureau, insists on the urgency of a response from the public authorities.

What the concept of enforced disappearance covers

The Working Group referred to by RSF is one of the oldest United Nations human rights mechanisms. It transmits cases to the concerned states and asks them to clarify the fate of the missing persons. Its referral does not establish any guilt: however, it does oblige the state to respond.

For the Nigerien press, the case adds to an already heavy atmosphere. The fate of a journalist with such a background, who disappeared in the middle of the capital without any official explanation being given, goes beyond an individual case: it questions the ability of national and regional institutions to protect those who provide information. As long as the Nigerien authorities do not speak out, his family and colleagues remain without answers.