Source: Africa Publicity
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced Wednesday that its officers and special agents deported Zakaria Songotoua, a former member of Burkina Faso’s Presidential Security Regiment, who had been convicted in absentia for crimes linked to the country’s failed 2015 coup attempt.
In a statement posted on Facebook on May 13, 2026, ICE said Songotoua “was convicted in absentia and sentenced to 30 years for murder, assault and battery after he fled Burkina Faso before trial.”
According to the agency, Songotoua played a role in the violent attempted overthrow of Burkina Faso’s transitional government in 2015.
“As a member of the Presidential Security Regiment, he participated in the attempted 2015 coup d’etat in the African nation that included killing 11 and holding the interim president hostage,” ICE stated.
Authorities said Songotoua had been living in the Bronx, New York, before federal agents located and apprehended him.
“After hiding in the sanctuary city of Bronx, N.Y., our New York officers and special agents tracked him down and returned him to Burkina Faso to face justice,” the agency added.
ICE emphasized that its Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center remains committed to identifying and removing individuals accused or convicted of serious international crimes.
“The U.S. is no safe haven for war criminals, and ICE HSI’s Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center ensures those who engage in such bloodshed anywhere in the world have no place in the United States,” the statement concluded.
The failed 2015 coup in Burkina Faso was led by elements of the Presidential Security Regiment, an elite military unit loyal to former President Blaise Compaoré. The uprising briefly detained interim leaders before being suppressed by loyalist forces amid widespread international condemnation.
