Benin’s government announced on Sunday that loyalist forces have regained control after a group of soldiers briefly appeared on state television declaring they had seized power, in an apparent coup attempt.
Olushegun Adjadi Bakari, the foreign minister, told Reuters that the plotters “only took control of state TV” and that the signal was cut after several minutes. “There is an attempt but the situation is under control,” he said.
A group of soldiers led by Lieutenant-Colonel Pascal Tigri, calling themselves the “Military Committee for Refoundation” (CMR), had appeared on air to announce the overthrow of President Patrice Talon and the closure of the country’s borders. Talon has been in power since 2016.
“The regular army is regaining control. The city and the country are completely secure,” the presidency told AFP, adding that Talon is safe.
According to AFP, the French Embassy reported gunfire near the presidential residence at the time of the broadcast. The incident occurs against a backdrop of several West and Central African nations falling under military rule following coups in recent years, including neighboring Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. Benin, a key regional ally of Western powers, has until now been considered a stable democracy in a volatile region.
