On May 6, 2015, Raymond Akodohou, the foreman in charge of the reconstruction of the Ouidah International Cultural Centre situated at about 15 kilometres from Cotonou, attacked a crew of privately-owned Golfe TV.
The MFWA’s correspondent in Benin reported that the team, made up of journalist Chamss Deen Badarou and cameraman Barthélemy Midingoyi, had gone to the site to report on the resumption of work following some delays by the construction company.
On seeing the television crew, Akodohou charged at them and tried to seize their camera.
Badarou and Midingoyi had to call the Gendarmerie Brigade in the area for protection.
According to the MFWA’s correspondent, Akodohou’s hostility towards the television crew may be a result of a story aired two weeks earlier in which Golfe TV condemned the construction company and alleged that the reconstruction of the Ouidah International Cultural Centre had been abandoned.
