President Talon’s fate unknown as soldiers stage coup in Benin Republic

By Isa Isawade

A group of soldiers in the Republic of Benin has announced overthrow of the country’s president, Patrice Talon.

The mutinous soldiers appeared on the state’s TV Sunday morning to announce removal of the president and the dissolution of democratic structures in the country.

The self-styled ‘Military Committee for Refoundation’ also announced appointment of Lt. Col. Pascal Tigri as head the new military administration in one of the poorest West African countries.

Following its independence from France in 1960, the West African nation witnessed multiple coups, especially in the decades following its independence.

Since 1991, the country has been politically stable following the two-decade rule of former President Mathieu Kérékou.

“Everything is fine,” Wilfried Houngbedji, the spokesperson for the Benin Government, told The Associated Press without expanding.

There is no official news about President Patrice Talon since gunshots were heard around the presidential residence.

The signal to state television and public radio was cut off after the military announcement.

Talon had been in power since 2016 and was due to step down next April after the presidential election.

Talon’s party pick, former Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni, was the favorite to win the election. Opposition candidate Renaud Agbodjo was rejected by the electoral commission on the grounds that he did not have sufficient sponsors.

In January, two associates of Talon were sentenced to 20 years in prison for an alleged 2024 coup plot.

In November, the country’s legislature extended the presidential term of office from five to seven years, keeping the term limit at two.

The fate of Mr Talon and his ministers are yet to be known.

This is the latest in the waves of military coups sweeping across West Africa. Last month, a military coup in Guinea-Bissau removed former President Umaro Embalo after a contested election in which both he and the opposition candidate declared themselves winners.

There had been coups in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso.