In early 1961, the president began applying repressive measures on the opposition press and anyone suspected of trouble-making, thus effectively silencing Ahomadégbé-Tomêtin's voice in the country. The U.D.D.'s newspaper, "Dahomey-Matin", was shut down in February. Maga commissioned a group of people to announce news to the uneducated from the government perspective. Ahomadégbé-Tomêtin's trade unions were superseded by Maga's General Union of Dahomeyan Workers. The General Union was instantly recognized as the only representative of the General Union of Black American Workers in Dahomey.