President Patrice Talon has vowed to punish those behind what he called a “senseless adventure”
Benin’s President Patrice Talon has said loyal security forces have foiled an attempt by mutinous soldiers to overthrow him. West Africa’s regional bloc ECOWAS, of which the country is a member, has condemned the failed coup as an “unconstitutional” act and a subversion of the will of the people.
A group of soldiers briefly seized state television on Sunday and announced Talon’s ousting and the suspension of the constitution. They declared the dissolution of state institutions, ordered the closure of the country’s airspace and land borders, and appointed Lieutenant Colonel Pascal Tigri to lead a new Military Committee for Refoundation.
The soldiers cited a deteriorating security situation in northern Benin, “coupled with the disregard and neglect” of their “fallen brothers-in-arms.” Gunfire was reported near the presidential residence and in several neighborhoods of Cotonou, the former French colony’s biggest city and commercial hub, as embassies warned foreign nationals to stay indoors.
President Talon later appeared on national television to announce that loyal forces have “cleared the last pockets of resistance held by the mutineers.” He blamed the thwarted coup on “a small group of soldiers” who, he said, had sought to destabilize the state and its institutions under the pretext of “false claims.”
Talon said his thoughts were with the “victims of this senseless adventure” and those “still held by the fleeing mutineers,” vowing that “the wrongdoing will not go unpunished.”
The government said 14 people had been arrested in connection with the coup attempt.
The attempted takeover comes months before a presidential election scheduled for April 12, 2026, which is expected to mark the end of Talon’s second term. He has led the country since 2016.
Sunday’s failed coup is the first such attempt in Benin since a successful one in 1972. It adds to a surge of military takeover activity that has gripped West Africa since 2020, including successful overthrows in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Niger and Gabon, as well as last month’s ouster of Guinea-Bissau’s leader.
ECOWAS says it has ordered the deployment of a standby force made up of troops from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) and Ghana to support the Beninese army in its efforts “to preserve constitutional order and territorial integrity.”
