Benin President says coup bid thwarted, vows retribution

COTONOU, Benin – Benin President Patrice Talon said on Dec 7 that the West African nation’s government and armed forces had thwarted a coup attempt by a group of soldiers and vowed to punish them.

Mr Talon’s announcement on the evening of Dec 7 came about 12 hours after gunfire first rang out in several neighbourhoods of Cotonou, the country’s biggest city and commercial hub, and soldiers went on state television to say they had removed Mr Talon from power.

Forces loyal to Mr Talon “stood firm, recaptured our positions, and cleared the last pockets of resistance held by the mutineers”, Mr Talon said in his own televised statement.

“This commitment and mobilisation enabled us to defeat these adventurers and to prevent the worst for our country... This treachery will not go unpunished.”

Mr Talon said his thoughts were with victims of the coup attempt as well as with a number of people held by the fleeing mutineers, without giving details. Reuters was unable to verify if there were casualties or hostages.

The unrest was the latest threat to democratic rule in the region, where militaries have in recent years seized power in Benin’s neighbours Niger and Burkina Faso, as well as in Mali, Guinea and, only in November, Guinea-Bissau.

But it was an unexpected development in Benin, where the last successful coup took place in 1972.

A government spokesman, Mr Wilfried Leandre Houngbedji, said that 14 people had been arrested in connection with the coup attempt by the afternoon of Dec 7, without providing details.

At the request of Mr Talon’s government, Nigeria sent air force fighter jets to take over Benin’s airspace to help dislodge the coup plotters from the state television network and a military camp, a statement from Nigerian President Bola Tinubu’s office said.

Nigeria has also sent ground troops, the statement said.

West Africa’s regional bloc ECOWAS and the African Union condemned the coup attempt.

In a subsequent statement, ECOWAS said it had ordered the immediate deployment of elements of its standby force to Benin.

Gunfire and explosions rattle biggest city

At least eight soldiers, several holding weapons, had appeared on state television on Dec 7 morning to announce that a military committee led by Colonel Pascal Tigri was dissolving national institutions, suspending the Constitution and closing air, land and maritime borders.

“The army solemnly commits to give the Beninese people the hope of a truly new era, where fraternity, justice and work prevail,” the soldiers’ statement said.

The soldiers mentioned the deteriorating security situation in northern Benin “coupled with the disregard and neglect of our fallen brothers-in-arms”.

Mr Talon has been credited with reviving the economy since taking office in 2016, but the country has also seen an increase in attacks by jihadist militants that have wreaked havoc in Mali and Burkina Faso.

Foreign Minister Olushegun Adjadi Bakari told Reuters that the soldiers had managed to only briefly take control of the state TV network.

Gunfire could be heard early on Dec 7 in several neighbourhoods of Cotonou as residents were trying to make their way to church.

The French embassy said gunfire had been reported near Mr Talon’s residence in Cotonou and urged citizens to stay at home.

By early afternoon, police were deployed at major intersections in the city centre.

Mr Narcisse, a furniture salesman in Cotonou who gave only his first name for safety reasons, said he first heard gunshots at 8am local time (3pm Singapore time) and soon saw police officers speeding past.

“I got scared and brought my sofas inside and closed. It’s a bit calmer now, which is why I reopened,” he said.

More gunfire and explosions were heard in Cotonou in the early evening on Dec 7, witnesses said, but the sounds had stopped before Mr Talon’s statement was broadcast.

Elections on the horizon

Benin is preparing for a presidential election in April that is expected to mark the end of Mr Talon’s tenure.

In November, the country adopted a new Constitution creating a Senate and extending the presidential mandate from five to seven years, in what critics said was a power grab by the ruling coalition, which has nominated Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni to be its candidate.

The opposition Democrats party, founded by Mr Talon’s predecessor Thomas Boni Yayi, saw its proposed candidate rejected because of what a court ruled was insufficient backing from lawmakers.

The deteriorating security situation in the north was most likely a factor behind the soldiers’ actions, said Dr Nina Wilen, director for the Africa Programme at the Egmont Institute for International Relations in Belgium.

Benin has been the hardest hit among coastal West African states by jihadist groups that have made major gains in the central Sahel region, she said. This fact was underscored by major attacks in January and April that killed dozens of soldiers.

Nevertheless, Dr Wilen said, Dec 7’s coup attempt was a surprise given Benin’s relative stability following a spate of coups and coup attempts in the first decades after independence from France in 1960.

“No coups in 50 years? That’s a major feat for a country in West Africa,” she said. REUTERS