The Government of Benin announced that it had aborted an attempted coup d’état announced on Sunday morning in the country, according to the Minister of the Interior in a video published on the social network Facebook.
“In the early hours of today, a small group of soldiers began a revolt with the aim of destabilizing the State and its institutions”added Alassane Seidou, regarding an apparent coup d’état reported by the Associated Press agency.
“Faced with this situation, the Armed Forces of Benin and its leadership, faithful to their oath, remained committed to the republic”he stressed.
Before the interior minister’s statements, a group of soldiers appeared on Benin’s state television to announce the dissolution of the government in an apparent coup d’état, the latest of many in West Africa.
The group, which called itself the Military Committee for Refoundation, announced the dismissal of the President and all state institutionshaving also informed of the appointment of lieutenant colonel Pascal Tigri as president of the military committee.
After independence from France in 1960, this West African country suffered several coups d’état, especially in the decades after independence.
Since 1991, the country has been politically stable following two decades of rule by Marxist-Leninist Mathieu Kérékou.
There is no official news about President Patrice Talon since shots were heard in the vicinity of the presidential residence. State television and public radio signals were cut after the military announcement.
Talon has been in power since 2016 and is expected to leave office next April, after the presidential elections. The candidate chosen by Talon’s party, former Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni, is the favorite to win the elections. The opposition candidate, Renaud Agbodjo, was rejected by the electoral commission, which cited a lack of sufficient sponsors.
In January, two of Talon’s associates were sentenced to 20 years in prison for an alleged plot to stage a coup d’état in 2024.
Last month, the country’s legislature extended the presidential term from five to seven years, maintaining the two-term limit.
The apparent coup that the interior minister claims was “foiled” is the latest in a series of insurgencies to rock West Africa.
The last one dates back to November, in Guinea-Bissau, where a group of military men took power, deposing President Umaro Sissoco Embaló, suspending the results of the November 23rd elections and swearing in General Horta Inta-A as transitional president for one year.