Bénin’s government announced on Sunday that it successfully thwarted an attempted coup d’état aimed at overthrowing President Patrice Talon. The president reassured the nation that the situation was “completely under control,” while the West African bloc ECOWAS pledged military support to the country.
This thwarted putsch occurred just months before President Talon is set to conclude his second and final term. Bénin, a small West African nation experiencing strong economic growth, has simultaneously grappled with escalating jihadist violence in its northern regions.
West Africa has faced significant political upheaval since the start of the decade, marked by military takeovers in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger—two of Bénin’s immediate neighbors—as well as in Guinea and, most recently in late November, in Guinea-Bissau.
On Sunday morning, following gunfire near the presidential palace, soldiers seized the national television broadcaster. They declared President Talon’s ousting, citing a “deterioration of the security situation” and challenges to “fundamental freedoms” among other reasons.
However, within hours, Bénin’s Interior Minister, Alassane Seidou, appeared on national television to confirm that the coup attempt had been successfully neutralized.
President Patrice Talon reiterated this assurance in a brief address to the nation on Sunday evening, declaring the situation “totally under control” and vowing that “security and public order will be maintained across the entire national territory.”
Upon his arrival at the presidential palace, Talon commended the Republican Guard soldiers and added, “This act of treachery will not go unpunished.”
France, the former colonial power, issued a strong condemnation of the coup attempt on Sunday evening. It urged its citizens in Bénin to exercise “the utmost caution and, in particular, to remain confined” due to the “still volatile context.”
While most residents of Cotonou, the economic capital, carried on with their daily routines for much of the day, the city began to empty earlier than usual in the evening, according to reports from an AFP journalist.
Numerous military checkpoints were established around the presidential area and the adjacent Guézo military camp.
“Tonight, we’ll try to get home earlier. We don’t know who is behind this coup,” 50-year-old hairdresser Michelle Eudoxie told AFP.
Nabil Sacca, a fuel vendor who was near the presidential palace on Sunday morning, recounted, “This morning I started hearing gunshots. I left the neighborhood to go elsewhere because I was scared.”
West African troops deployed
Military sources informed AFP that approximately a dozen soldiers have been apprehended. A security source indicated that some of those arrested were involved in the attempted putsch, though it remained unconfirmed if the alleged leader of the mutineers, Lieutenant-Colonel Pascal Tigri, was among them.
Late Sunday afternoon, Nigerian air forces conducted strikes in Cotonou, described by Nigerian Air Force spokesperson General Ehimen Ejodamen as being “in accordance with the protocols of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).” The specific targets of these strikes were not disclosed.
Subsequently, ECOWAS declared the “immediate deployment” of military contingents from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire, and Ghana. Their mission is to bolster Bénin’s “government and republican army” and to “safeguard constitutional order.”
The ECOWAS Standby Force is mandated to ensure peace and stability across the region. A notable past intervention includes its deployment in Gambia in 2017, when then-President Yahya Jammeh refused to relinquish power.
However, the force ultimately chose not to intervene in Niger following the 2023 coup d’état.
The African Union (AU) unequivocally and strongly condemned this attempted overthrow of the government.
Bénin’s political history has seen several coups or attempted takeovers, though the last successful one occurred in 1972.
“Today, it’s as if I’m reliving what our parents experienced back then,” remarked Remy Agblo, a local merchant, expressing relief that “fortunately, it was thwarted.”
President Patrice Talon, who has held power since 2016, is scheduled to complete his second and constitutionally mandated final term in 2026.
His designated successor, current Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni, is widely considered the leading contender for the April 2026 presidential election, especially after the primary opposition party was excluded from participation.
“A palpable tension has gripped the country for months due to the upcoming elections,” observed Anatole Zinsou, a Cotonou-based IT specialist, who expressed concern over the “exclusion” of certain political actors from the electoral processes.
While lauded for his contributions to Bénin’s economic development, President Patrice Talon frequently faces accusations from critics of steering the nation towards authoritarianism, a country once celebrated for its vibrant democracy.