Dangnivo case in Benin: The family's lawyer reacts to the death in prison of Cossi Codjo Alofa

Convicted last July for the murder of civil servant Pierre Urbain Dangnivo, Cossi Codjo Alofa, the 41-year-old charlatan, died on Monday, October 26, 2026, after being admitted to the Hubert Koutoukou Maga National Hospital Center (CNHU-HKM) in Cotonou. According to a statement from the public prosecutor at the Cotonou Court of First Instance, he succumbed to a stroke.

"I was surprised, I was shocked, it was like a cold shower."

Interviewed by Bip Radio, the lawyer for the family of Pierre Urbain Dangnivo, Me Olga Annassidé, expressed regret at the disappearance of the charlatan.

“Like all Beninese, I learned that Alofa passed away at the CNHU hospital early this morning, Monday, October 26, 2026. I was surprised, I was shocked; it was like a cold shower. May he rest in peace. I deeply regret his death,” the lawyer stated. She cautioned that the detainee’s death does not close the Dangnivo case.

“As for Alofa, the public prosecution has now been dropped. However, in his indictment, the Cotonou public prosecutor stated that it was Akon Isidore who killed Dangnivo in Alofa’s bed. Therefore, the authorities are aware that there are still people at large in this case. I don’t think, therefore, that Alofa’s death definitively closes this case. There are still aspects that require further investigation,” the lawyer stated.

"Those individuals who have been publicly presented to us as the perpetrators must be brought before the courts."

When asked if she intends to appeal on behalf of the Dangnivo family, she replies that such action is not excluded.

"The authorities have informed us that Alofa has died. The same authorities had already put us on the trail of other people and we expect them to do what is legally required so that these people who have been publicly presented to us as the perpetrators appear before the courts," the lawyer stated.

It must be said that the Dangnivo family never recognized the body exhumed in the backyard of Alofa as that of Pierre Urbain Dangnivo.