Traore has opened a new front with Burkina Faso’s Muslim community over arrests.
New legislation and arrests are driving a rift between Burkina Faso’s military government and Muslim scholars.

Captain Ibrahim Traore’s relationship with Muslim leaders has come under strain as his government tightens control over religious affairs.

Burkina Faso’s transitional leader Ibrahim Traore has announced plans to bring back students studying Islamic law in Arab countries

Once backed by influential Muslim scholars, Burkina Faso’s military leader is now facing a growing rift over arrests, new legislation and his campaign against what he describes as religious extremism.

Burkina Faso’s transitional leader, Captain Ibrahim Traore, has sharply escalated his confrontation with influential Muslim scholars, declaring that what he calls “radical Islam” has no place in the country and warning that “the battle has begun” against those he accuses of promoting religious extremism.

Addressing scholars whom he accused of spreading extremist ideas, Traore declared: “If this is your Islam, we will fight it. Extremists must change. If they do not, the battle has begun.”

His remarks underscore a widening rift between the government and parts of Burkina Faso’s Muslim community. Once an important source of support for the military leader, several influential Sunni scholars are now at odds with the authorities over the Religious Freedoms Law, the detention of prominent imams and the government’s campaign against religious extremism.

Traore argued that religion should spread through example rather than coercion or violence. He also questioned why some Muslims opposed the new legislation and warned that imams who use sermons to promote extremist ideas would be suspended.

At the same time, he pledged state support for scholars who advocate what he described as a peaceful interpretation of Islam, while accusing foreign powers of exploiting religion to destabilise Burkina Faso.

Students studying abroad
Traore also announced plans to recall Burkinabe students studying Islamic law in Arab countries, claiming that more than 800,000 were pursuing religious education abroad without acquiring practical professional skills.

He warned that those who refuse to return could risk losing their Burkinabe citizenship.

The announcement followed a government directive issued in late June requiring students seeking to study abroad to obtain prior approval from the Ministry of Higher Education.

Authorities said the measure was intended to ensure overseas study programmes better align with the country’s development priorities.

The tighter controls on religious education came as Burkina Faso’s transitional parliament unanimously adopted the Religious Freedoms Law on June 20.

The government says the legislation is intended to reinforce the state’s secular character. It introduces prison terms and fines for practices that authorities classify as religious abuses, including the forced begging of children and breaches of financial transparency rules by religious organisations.

From ally to adversary
The law deepened already growing tensions between the government and sections of the Muslim community.

In late May, Imam Mohamed Ishaq Kindo, one of Burkina Faso’s most prominent Sunni scholars, was arrested after criticising the draft legislation.

Referring to the arrest and the protests that followed, Traore dismissed the unrest as the work of “a small minority of extremists”.

After worshippers gathered to demand Kindo’s release, authorities closed the largest Sunni mosque in the capital, Ouagadougou, citing public order concerns.

Agence France-Presse (AFP), citing a security source, reported that about 100 of the imam’s supporters were transferred to a military camp for what officials described as “civic training”.

Kindo’s arrest followed the mid-April detention of Imam Mahmoud Barro in Bobo-Dioulasso under similar circumstances. According to the Timbuktu Institute, a Dakar-based think tank specialising in peace and security issues, Kindo’s whereabouts have not been disclosed since the protests were suppressed.

According to the institute, the confrontation extends beyond the Religious Freedoms Law. It marks the breakdown of the tacit understanding that had developed between Traore’s government and influential Muslim scholars, whose backing helped bolster his standing after he seized power.

By turning against former allies, the institute argues, Traore risks weakening an important source of political legitimacy without resolving the security crisis that his government has used to justify its increasingly assertive measures.

An Israeli dimension
Alongside the domestic tensions, Traore recently received Israel’s new ambassador to Burkina Faso, Simon Seroussi, in Ouagadougou to present his credentials.

The meeting followed a report by Africa Intelligence, a Paris-based publication specialising in African political and business affairs, that the ambassador’s accreditation request, submitted in the summer of 2025, had remained pending before being quietly approved.

Traore’s public reception of the ambassador appears to mark a shift from the caution previously shown by his inner circle, which had sought to preserve his anti-Western image. It also comes as Israeli security agencies expand cooperation with members of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), the bloc formed by Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, whose governments have expressed interest in Israeli security technology.

As Traore declares that “the battle has begun” against what he describes as religious extremism, while the Religious Freedoms Law takes effect and the fate of detained scholars remains unclear, a broader question emerges: will the government’s efforts to assert greater control over sources of public legitimacy strengthen its authority, or deepen its confrontation with one of Burkina Faso’s most influential social forces?

–Rev Dachomo

By Michael Lim

Rev. Ezekiel Dachomo, the Regional Leader of the Church of Christ in Nations, COCIN has raised the alarm that suspected terrorists sent him and members of his church a letter threatening to kill them days after nine of his relatives were killed in an attack on communities in Plateau State.

The pastor shared the statement on x, saying copies of the threat letter had already been handed over to security agencies.

The threat letter was written in both Hausa and English, he said. In the statement, he said:

“A few days ago, Fulani herdsmen sent a threatening letter to me and to members of my church. The letter was written in both Hausa and English, and its message was terrifying.

“They vowed to attack me and kill me soon, just as they killed nine of my relatives. Copies of the threatening letters have already been handed over to the security operatives,” he said.

Despite the threats, the cleric said he remained unafraid because he believed his life was in God’s hands.

“Many people have asked me if I am afraid. My answer is no. I am not afraid because my life is in the hands of Almighty God,” he said.

Quoting Psalm 118:6, he added, “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do unto me?”

Dachomo decried the recent attack that left him with painful memories of burying loved ones and comforting families devastated by violence.

In his words:

“I know what it means to bury those I love. I know what it means to wipe the tears of children who watched their parents murdered. I know what it means to stand before grieving families whose only crime was refusing to deny Jesus Christ.

“Now they say I will be next. But I ask the world, what is my crime?” he said.

The pastor questioned if advocating for widows, orphans and persecuted Christians had become an offence saying:

“Is my crime that I speak for widows who have no voice? Is my crime that I cry for orphaned children whose parents were murdered? Is my crime that I tell the stories of persecuted Christians in Nigeria so the world will not forget them?

Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, arrived in the Federal Republic of Nigeria on 2 July to take part in celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the country, and concluded his visit on Tuesday, 7 July.

The West African nation is home to more than 30 million Catholics and over 10,000 Catholic priests, while continuing to face significant internal security challenges.

During the visit, as reported by the Secretariat of State’s official X account, @TerzaLoggia, Archbishop Gallagher met with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the Presidential Villa.

Also present were Foreign Affairs Minister Bianca Odumegwu Ojukwu and ECOWAS Commission President Omar Alieu Touray.

Following the meeting, President Tinubu told local media that he had reaffirmed the government’s commitment to giving priority to interreligious dialogue and to promoting peace, harmony, and tolerance among the country’s different religious communities.

The Vatican Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations also celebrated Mass on Sunday morning at the Pro-Cathedral of Our Lady Queen of Nigeria in Garki, Abuja, in thanksgiving for 50 years of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Nigeria.

Vatican News