[6] He holds a master's degree in criminology from the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers (CNAM) in Paris and a defense expert certification in management, command and strategy.

[10] In 2019, Damiba testified in the trial of conspirators behind a 2015 coup in Burkina Faso that briefly deposed a transitional government, according to reports from the time in Burkinabe media.

[13] According to online African-American reference center BlackPast.org "It later came to light that the gendarmes at Inata had not received food rations for two weeks... [they] were forced to slaughter animals in the vicinity to stay alive.

"[14] Kaboré appointed Damiba, who by then was deeply moved by the events at Inata,[14] as the head of an "anti-terrorist operations" ministry that would seek security for Eastern Burkina Faso and Ouagadougou.

In 2010 and 2020, he participated in the Flintlock Joint Combined Exchange Training exercises including raising awareness of human rights and laws of armed conflicts.

[18] On 24 January 2022, Damiba led a coup deposing and detaining President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré and Prime Minister Lassina Zerbo.

[19] While people were celebrating the coup in Ouagadougou, some supporters carried Russian flags, as a sign of their call to receive help from Russia in their fight against Islamist terrorism.

However, the military regime failed to defeat the Jihadists; instead, rebels and other non-state actors even expanded their operations and controlled 40% of the country by September 2022.

[23][24][26] Sahel expert and University of Calgary scholar Abdul Zanya Salifu argued that his inability to defeat the jihadists had led to Damiba's downfall, as his promise to improve security had been the justification for him taking power in the first place.

The new junta under the leadership of Traoré later accused Damiba of trying to flee towards the French military base of Camp Kamboinsin in order to mount a counter-coup.

[31] In July 2024, Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba sent a letter to Ibrahim Traoré, President of Burkina Faso, in which he expressed concern about the deterioration of the security situation and possible abuses against civilians.