“Christians today are familiar with persecution from governments or from religions like Islam, but in Benin, the source of persecution is voodoo,” says Representative Foley. She says that ethnic religions like voodoo are practiced by about 40% of the 14 million people in Benin and that the country’s current president, Patrice Talon, is a voodooist and promoter of the religion. “Benin is the birthplace of voodoo. Practitioners of voodoo intentionally become demonically possessed and offer sacrifices to spirits they know to be evil.” 

Representative Foley says that the result is that Christians in Benin face constant spiritual warfare from voodooists, many of whom are in positions of power in the local tribes and governments.  

Representative Foley says that the most recent spiritual battle began in the western Benin city of Savalou on Christmas Eve 2023, when without warning authorities began arresting pastors.

Pastor Victor Adamou told Voice of the Martyrs that authorities arrested his assistant pastor that night, while Pastor Adamou was preaching elsewhere. The authorities charged the church with violating a noise ordinance. The next day, Pastor Adamou was summoned to the police station, where he was forced to pay a large fine in exchange for the release of the assistant pastor. 

Across town, police targeted another pastor for allegedly violating the same noise ordinance. The authorities confiscated musical instruments and imposed a large fine on that church. 

Then on February 12, 2024, police returned to Pastor Adamou’s church.  

“They said that when we were praising God, we clapped too much and we sang too loud,” Pastor Adamou told Voice of the Martyrs. Police ordered Pastor Adamou and some church members to load the church’s musical instruments into the police vehicle. But Pastor Adamou refused.  

“We use the drums to glorify God,” Pastor Adamou told the police. “You are the policemen that want to take away drums. You should come and take them yourself. The Lord is the witness that you are the ones accusing us and you are the ones that took away God’s drums.” 

Police forced a man walking by the church to pack up the instruments and load them in their vehicle. Then they ordered Pastor Adamou to go to the police station, where he was immediately arrested and locked in a cell, where he fasted and prayed for three days. 

“I knew in my heart that this was part of the sacrifice we were trying to make for the Lord,” he told Voice of the Martyrs. “I was praying for the Lord to manifest his grace.” 

Pastor Adamou was released after three days. But many church members, fearing their own possible arrests, stopped attending worship services. 

“The voodoo community is very active in Savalou,” says Representative Foley. “It is common to see parades of voodooists walking down the street in special clothes, often with someone wearing a devil costume, on their way to ‘curse’ someone. And in front of homes across the city are small altars on which voodooists ritually slaughter animals with the hope of appeasing local spirits.” 

In 2023, pastors told Voice of the Martyrs, a new church began worshiping next to a voodoo leader’s home. A short time later, the voodooist lost his ability to tell fortunes using witchcraft, so in his anger he began throwing rocks at the church during services.  

“The pastors believe that he and other voodooists with homes near churches didn’t like having Christians as neighbors,” says Representative Foley. “They think the voodooists complained to city officials, who also were voodooists, prompting the crackdown on pastors and churches.” 

By late February 2024, four pastors had been arrested and forced to pay fines up to a quarter of their annual salaries. 

Pastor Jules Sanni, the president of the area church association, wrote a letter to the town’s chief prosecutor, protesting the unjust arrests and fines. In response, police arrested the association president and detained him in jail for eight days. 

Arrests of church leaders continued throughout the summer. Then on August 21, police showed up at a church where Assistant Pastor Marc Djosso was preaching and Mrs. Thalia Yacoubou was translating the French sermon into the local Mahi language. The church had already been fined and was no longer using microphones or musical instruments. Nevertheless, the police took Pastor Marc Djosso and Mrs. Thalia Yacoubou directly to jail. 

The police locked the two in cramped cells. Four days later, they were joined by the senior pastor, who had been arrested because he was the responsible church authority. The three spent nine days in jail, witnessing to the other prisoners and leading one to Christ.  

Church leaders told Voice of the Martyrs that they believe it was after those events that spiritual victory came. 

“Church leaders credit the prayers of Beninese Christians and other Christians around the world for the changes in Savalou,” says Representative Foley. “By late 2024, the voodooists behind the arrests had been removed from office. The city’s mayor was sent to prison for involvement in a mysterious death, the chief prosecutor was demoted and the chief of police was forced into early retirement.” 

Church leaders told Voice of the Martyrs that Savalou’s new authorities have indicated a willingness to work with the town’s pastors and treat the churches fairly. But the churches’ seized instruments and sound equipment have yet to be returned, and none of the fines have been reimbursed. Some churches, in fact, expect to pay additional legal fees when their cases go to trial. While church attendance is still lower than before the arrests, local Christians are returning to Sunday services. Still, some church members are fearful and worry about being arrested. 

“Several church leaders requested prayer for boldness and that their voodooist neighbors will come to know Christ,” says Representative Foley. “They say their dream is that more people will reject the darkness of voodooism and walk in God’s light.” 

The church leaders told Voice of the Martyrs they are determined to continue sharing the gospel, no matter the cost. 

“We are used to it already, accustomed to them coming to attack the church,” Mrs. Yacoubou said. “If they want to come, let them come. If it is because of Jesus they take us to jail, we are fine because the Lord that delivered Daniel in ancient days … is still the same, and he can deliver us.”