The Benin Republic presidency says President Patrice Talon is safe and that loyalist troops are regaining control after a faction of soldiers announced a coup early Sunday.
Gunfire erupted near Talon’s residence as armoured vehicles were deployed around the presidential palace amid heightened tension in Cotonou.
The mutinous group, calling itself the Military Committee for Refoundation, had earlier appeared on state television to declare that the president and all political officeholders had been removed and that national institutions had been dissolved.
Talon, in power since 2016, had previously stated he would leave office in April 2026 after the next presidential election.
Sunday’s attempted takeover comes a year after Djimon Tevoedjre, commander of the Republican Guard and head of Talon’s security detail, was arrested over an alleged coup plot in September 2024.
‘A Small Group Controlling Only the Television’
In a statement, the presidency dismissed the soldiers behind the takeover attempt as “a small group of people who only control the television”, insisting that the “regular army is regaining control” and that both the capital and the country remain secure.
West Africa has experienced a series of coups and attempted coups since 2020. Last month, soldiers in Guinea-Bissau seized power after President Umaro Embaló and opposition candidate Fernando Dias both declared victory despite the electoral commission not releasing official results.
Other countries currently under military regimes in the region include Burkina Faso (2022), Guinea (2021), Mali (2020), and Niger (2023).
