•Benin’s President Patrice Talon
Two high-ranking Benin army officers taken hostage during an attempted coup were released early today, a day after the government said it thwarted the military takeover with support from Nigerian forces.
Benin’s economic capital Cotonou was calm and traffic was returning to normal, after a group of soldiers a day earlier announced on national television they had ousted the president, reports AFP.
Later yesterday, President Patrice Talon made his own TV appearance, assuring the country that the situation was “completely under control”.
Talon, 67, is due to hand over the reins of power in April after two terms leading the West African country, which in recent years has been hit by jihadist violence in the north.
The coup attempt follows a spate of military takeovers in west Africa, including in Benin’s northern neighbours Niger and Burkina Faso, as well as Mali, Guinea and, last month, Guinea-Bissau.
But Benin called on the swift help of its neighbour Nigeria, which said late yesterday it had carried out military strikes on Cotonou and deployed troops.
West African regional bloc ECOWAS has also announced military support for Benin and would meet in Abidjan today. The bloc had threatened intervention during Niger’s 2023 coup but ultimately did not act.
According to two military sources, two senior Beninese officers taken hostage by those behind the coup bid were released overnight yesterday to today.
Chief of Army Staff Abou Issa and army chief Colonel Faizou Gomina were set free near Benin’s National Guard in Cotonou.
“Both of them are free,” one of the sources said.
It was still unknown today how many people were involved in the attempted overthrow or were still missing.
– ‘Treachery’ –
In his address late yesterday, Talon said the country had “stood firm” and “cleared the last pockets of resistance”.
“This treachery will not go unpunished,” he said, while military sources told AFP that around a dozen soldiers had been arrested.
According to a source close to the matter, the coup leader, lieutenant colonel Pascal Tigri, is on the run.
In the area around the National Guard, the road was no longer blocked off but two tanks were now stationed.
More military tanks were seen elsewhere in Cotonou and, while several roads remained closed, others had reopened.
The front pages of most newspapers focused on the coup attempt, with the daily La Nation reporting: “The situation is completely under control, reassures Patrice Talon”, while Matin Libre’s headline read: “A coup attempt foiled”.
The Economic Community of West African States said troops from Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Sierra Leone were being deployed to Benin to help the government “preserve constitutional order”.
The regional bloc, along with the United Nations, former colonial power France and the African Union, has condemned the coup attempt.
Under Benin’s constitution, Talon is not permitted to run for a third term but his designated successor, Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni, is considered a favourite for the presidential election in April.
The main opposition party has been excluded from the ballot on the grounds that its candidate did not have sufficient sponsors.
Although hailed for spurring economic growth, critics accuse Talon of authoritarianism in a country once praised for its democratic dynamism.
Benin’s political history has been marked by several coups and attempted coups since its independence from France in 1960.
