Benin’s Interior Minister, Alassane Seidou, on Sunday announced that the country’s armed forces had successfully foiled an attempted coup launched by a small group of mutinous soldiers.
According to Seidou, the dissident soldiers attempted to destabilise national institutions by declaring President Patrice Talon removed from office.
“A small group of soldiers launched a mutiny with the aim of destabilising the country and its institutions. Faced with this situation, the Beninese Armed Forces and their leadership maintained control of the situation and foiled the attempt,” the minister said.
Earlier in the day, the soldiers, identifying themselves as the “Military Committee for Refoundation” (CMR), appeared on state television claiming they had ousted President Talon. They announced that they had met and agreed that “Mr. Patrice Talon is removed from office as president of the republic.”
However, sources close to the president dismissed the announcement, insisting that Talon was safe and that loyal forces were steadily restoring order.
“This is a small group of people who only control the television. The regular army is regaining control. The city and the country are completely secure,” Talon’s office told AFP.
President Talon, who has been in power for a decade, is expected to step down in April at the end of his second term. The attempted coup adds to rising concerns over political instability in West Africa, where several nations have experienced military takeovers in recent years.
Security forces in Benin are reported to have restored calm in the capital as investigations continue into the identities and motivations of the soldiers involved in the failed coup.
