Benin’s government says loyalist troops have thwarted an attempted coup after a group of soldiers appeared on state television early Sunday claiming to have suspended the constitution and removed President Patrice Talon.
Interior Minister Alassane Seidou said in a televised address that the armed forces “remained committed to the republic” and quickly regained control after what he called “a mutiny aimed at destabilising the state and its institutions.”
Shortly before dawn, soldiers led by Lt. Col. Pascal Tigri seized the national broadcaster, held some staff hostage and announced Talon’s ouster. Residents reported hearing gunfire in Cotonou, while a presidential adviser told the BBC that Talon was safe at an undisclosed location. French diplomats denied reports that he had taken refuge in France’s embassy.
Government spokesperson Wilfried Leandre Houngbedji told Reuters that 14 people had been arrested, including 12 who stormed the broadcaster. A journalist in Benin said one detainee was a previously dismissed soldier.
Helicopters were seen overhead and security forces blocked roads around key sites in Cotonou. The French and Russian embassies urged their nationals to stay indoors, while the US embassy advised avoiding the presidential compound area.
In their broadcast, the rebel soldiers accused Talon of mishandling the deteriorating security situation in northern Benin, where troops have suffered losses to Islamist militants linked to Islamic State and al-Qaeda spreading south from Niger and Burkina Faso. They also criticised cuts to public health services, rising taxes, and what they described as neglect of families of fallen soldiers.
Talon, 67, a businessman known as the “king of cotton,” has been in power since 2016 and is due to step down next year after two terms. His government has been praised for economic reforms but criticised by opponents and rights groups for restricting political space. In October, the electoral commission barred the leading opposition candidate from running in next year’s vote.
Benin, long viewed as one of West Africa’s more stable democracies, has been unsettled by a series of coups in the region. Sunday’s attempt came just over a week after the military ousted President Umaro Sissoco Embaló in Guinea-Bissau, adding to recent takeovers in Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Niger.
ECOWAS and the African Union condemned the attempted coup. AU Commission Chair Mahmoud Ali Yousouf reiterated the bloc’s “zero tolerance” for unconstitutional changes of government. Nigeria described the incident as a “direct assault on democracy” and praised Benin’s security forces for safeguarding the constitutional order.
Pro-Russian social media accounts welcomed news of the attempted takeover, according to BBC Monitoring, amid Moscow’s deepening ties with several Sahel military governments that have broken with ECOWAS.
Talon has endorsed Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni as his preferred successor. Constitutional amendments passed last month extended terms for elected officials from five to seven years but retained the two-term presidential limit.