Benin president says coup bid thwarted as neighbour Nigeria intervenes

Benin’s president said the “situation is completely under control” in his country after the government thwarted an attempted coup thanks to loyalist soldiers with support from Nigerian forces.

A group of soldiers announced earlier in the day on state television that they had ousted President Patrice Talon.

That sparked a swift response from loyal army forces, joined by air strikes and troop deployments from neighbouring Nigeria.

Beninese military and security sources said that around a dozen soldiers had been arrested, including those behind the coup bid.

West Africa has experienced a number of coups in recent years, including in Benin’s northern neighbours Niger and Burkina Faso, as well as Mali, Guinea and, most recently, Guinea-Bissau.

“I would like to assure you that the situation is completely under control and therefore invite you to calmly go about your activities starting this very evening,” Talon said on state broadcaster Benin TV.

Talon was due to hand over power in April next year after 10 years in office marked by solid economic growth, but also a surge in jihadist violence.

Early Sunday, soldiers calling themselves the “Military Committee for Refoundation” (CMR), announced on state television that they had met and decided that “Mr Patrice Talon is removed from office as president of the republic”.

Shortly after the announcement however, a source close to Talon said the president was safe, condemning the coup plotters as “a small group of people who only control the television”.

“The regular army is regaining control. The city (Cotonou) and the country are completely secure,” the source added.

“It’s just a matter of time before everything returns to normal. The clean-up is progressing well.”

Benin’s Interior Minister Alassane Seidou then went on state television to say that “the Beninese Armed Forces and their leadership maintained control of the situation and foiled the attempt”.

Later Sunday, Nigerian fighter planes struck undisclosed targets as Beninese forces conducted countercoup operations, a source in the Nigerian presidency told Agence France-Presse.

West African regional bloc ECOWAS, meanwhile, said troops from Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Sierra Leone were being deployed to the country to help the government “preserve constitutional order”.

A statement from Nigerian President Bola Tinubu’s office said that Nigerian troops had entered Benin and that the air force had been deployed at the request of Benin’s foreign ministry.

Agence France-Presse correspondents had reported hearing gunfire early Sunday on the streets of Cotonou, the economic capital, while soldiers blocked access to the presidential offices and the state television building.

Elsewhere, however, residents went about their business.

“The coup was foiled, thank God. But we have to think about what to do so this kind of thing doesn’t happen again,” one street vendor in Cotonou, Adam Aminou, said.

“We had a few scary moments,” said retired teacher Jennifer Adokpeto.

“We really thought, seeing the statement being repeated on a loop on TV, that it was really a coup d’etat and that our country was going to go the way of some of our neighbours,” she added.

A military source confirmed that the situation was “under control” and the coup plotters had taken neither Talon’s residence nor the presidential offices.

Agence France-Presse could not immediately verify that, with access to those areas and several other areas of the city blocked, including the five-star Sofitel hotel and districts housing international institutions.

The eight rebel soldiers who appeared on television were carrying assault rifles and wearing berets of various colours.

They proclaimed lieutenant colonel Pascal Tigri as “president” of their “refoundation” committee and justified their action by citing the “continuous deterioration of the security situation in northern Benin”.

The “neglect of soldiers killed in action and their families left to fend for themselves” as well as “unjust promotions at the expense of the most deserving” were also motivations, they added.

The African Union said it “unequivocally condemns” the attempted coup.

France, the former colonial power, and the organisation of French-speaking countries (OIF) also condemned the coup.

Benin’s political history has been marked by several coups and attempted coups since its independence from France in 1960.

Talon, a 67-year-old former businessman dubbed the “cotton king of Cotonou”, came to power in 2016.

He was due to reach the end of his second term in 2026, the maximum allowed by the constitution.

The main opposition party has been excluded from the race to succeed him.

Instead, the ruling party would vie for power against a so-called “moderate” opposition.

While Talon has been praised for bringing economic development to Benin, he was regularly accused by his critics of authoritarianism.