DAKAR, Senegal — Benin’s government said Sunday that it had thwarted a coup attempt by a group of soldiers who had announced their takeover on state television.
Early Sunday, eight soldiers who called themselves the Military Committee for Refoundation said the president and all state institutions had been removed and that all land and sea borders had been closed. They justified the action by saying it would restore “national cohesion.”
People who live near the presidential palace in Porto-Novo said they heard gunfire Sunday morning. By afternoon, calm had been restored and people returned to the streets of the capital.
Interior Minister Alassane Seidou said soldiers had “engaged in a mutiny aimed at destabilizing the state and its institutions.”
“In the face of this situation, the Beninese armed forces and their hierarchy, faithful to their oath, remained republicans,” Seidou said in a video posted to social media. “Their retaliation allowed us to keep control of the situation and to fail the maneuver.”
After the rebels announced the takeover, the broadcast was cut and the streets close to the presidential residence were placed under the control of Benin’s national guard, local media reported.
The attempt followed a successful coup last month in Guinea-Bissau, the latest in a recent string of takeovers in West Africa, including in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Guinea. Analysts said it showed the fragility of democracy in Benin, one of the region’s more stable countries.
The Economic Community of West African States condemned the attempted coup. In a statement, the bloc said it would support Benin’s government “in all forms necessary, including the deployment of the regional standby force.”
The coastal nation of about 15 million has been viewed as a relatively strong democracy in the region and Patrice Talon, its president since 2016, a pillar of stability. But the president, now in his second five-year term, has grown increasingly authoritarian in recent years.
Talon, 67, has said he will step down when his term ends next year, as required by the country’s constitution. But he has also barred the main opposition party from participating in next year’s election and jailed key opposition figures.
“This situation reveals a democratic malaise in Benin that is relatively deep,” said Alioune Tine, a human rights analyst and the founder of the Dakar-based research organization AfrikaJom Center.
Another analyst said the security situation could be fueling dissatisfaction within the military. The analyst spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly.
Benin’s forces have been targeted repeatedly this year by JNIM, an increasingly powerful al-Qaeda affiliate that is spreading from its base in the central Sahel to coastal nations. JNIM killed dozens of soldiers from Benin during an attack in April.
Benin’s government has downplayed the number of soldiers killed in that and other attacks, the analyst said, leading to widespread frustration both in the military and the wider population.
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