Benin Mutiny: Govt reasserts control, says coup plotters only held TV station

Benin’s government on Sunday announced that it had foiled an attempted coup after a group of soldiers briefly appeared on state television to declare the removal of President Patrice Talon from office.

The development adds to the wave of military takeovers that has swept through West Africa in recent years, including Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea and, most recently, Guinea-Bissau.

Talon, 67, a former businessman widely known as the “cotton king of Cotonou,” is expected to leave office in April next year after completing 10 years in power, a period marked by strong economic growth but also rising jihadist attacks in the country’s north.

Early on Sunday, soldiers identifying themselves as the “Military Committee for Refoundation” (CMR) appeared on national television, announcing that they had resolved to remove Talon from office.

But minutes later, a source close to the president told AFP that Talon was safe and dismissed the coup attempt as the handiwork of “a small group of people who only control the television.”

“The regular army is regaining control. The city and the country are completely secure,” the source added, noting that it was only a matter of time before “everything returns to normal.”

By midday, the situation in Cotonou remained tense and uncertain.

AFP correspondents reported sporadic gunfire and soldiers blocking roads leading to the presidential complex, even as normal activities continued in other parts of the city.

Interior Minister Alassane Seidou described the development as a “mutiny” aimed at destabilising the state and its institutions. He said the armed forces had acted quickly to contain the situation.

On state television earlier, eight soldiers, armed and wearing different colours of berets, announced the formation of the CMR and named a lieutenant colonel as their leader.

They accused the government of mishandling security in the north, neglecting the welfare of fallen soldiers’ families, and promoting officers unfairly.

A military source later confirmed that “the situation is under control,” insisting that the mutineers neither seized Talon’s residence nor the presidential offices.

An AFP journalist reported that access roads to the presidency and state broadcaster were blocked, along with strategic locations such as the Sofitel Hotel and neighbourhoods housing international institutions. However, the airport and most parts of the city remained calm.

Regional bloc ECOWAS condemned the attempted takeover, describing it as unconstitutional and a direct assault on the will of Beninese citizens.

Benin, which gained independence in 1960, has a long history of coups and attempted coups.

Talon, who assumed office in 2016, is expected to complete his second and final term in 2026.

With the main opposition excluded from the 2026 race, the ruling party is expected to face off against a “moderate” opposition bloc.

While Talon has been credited with significant economic reforms, critics have repeatedly accused him of authoritarian tendencies.

AFP

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