The short-lived coup in Benin left “casualties on both sides” of the government forces and the mutinous soldiers, authorities said Monday, as security forces intensified the search for the coup leader who was on the run.
Meanwhile, Benin’s economic capital Cotonou was mostly calm on Monday as the country’s armed forces hunted fugitive soldiers who staged a botched coup attempt a day earlier.
Neighbouring Nigeria said it carried out strikes on Sunday and deployed troops to help restore order in the West African nation battling jihadist insurgents.
The military takeover attempting to overthrow President Patrice Talon, which lasted a few hours before authorities announced it had been foiled, was the latest in a series of recent coups across Africa — most following a similar pattern of disputed elections, constitutional upheaval, security crises and youth discontent.
In a statement detailing Sunday’s events, Government Secretary Edouard Ouin-Ouro said the mutinous soldiers attacked Talon around 5 a.m. before being “overwhelmed by the fierce resistance of the loyal soldiers.”
The government confirmed the involvement of Nigerian and Ivorian troops in helping to thwart the coup, saying the Nigerian military had “(used) its military aircraft, which immobilized some of the armored vehicles.”
Authorities said although several arrests have been made over the coup, its apparent leader remained on the run and was being hunted. Two senior Beninese officers, Chief of Army staff Abou Issa and Army Chief Colonel Faizou Gomina, had been taken hostage but were released near the National Guard in Cotonou overnight.
Authorities did not specify the number of casualties.
An ongoing investigation into the coup will “identify all the perpetrators and their sponsors whoever they may be” and will assess the damage in the aftermath, Ouin-Ouro said in the statement issued after a high-level cabinet meeting chaired by the Benin leader.
A group of soldiers calling themselves the Committee for Refoundation stormed the national television station on Sunday morning to announce the coup.
Led by Lt. Col. Pascal Tigri, eight soldiers appeared in a broadcast announcing the removal of Talon, the dissolution of the government and the suspension of state institutions.
Before the coup, Tigri was a member of Talon’s protection detail. As an artillery officer, he commanded a National Guard battalion between 2023 and 2025.
President Patrice Talon made his own TV appearance late Sunday, assuring the country that the situation was “completely under control”.
Talon, 67, is due to hand over the reins of power in April after two terms leading Benin, which in recent years has been hit by jihadist violence in the North.
The coup attempt follows a spate of military takeovers in the region, including in Benin’s northern neighbours Niger and Burkina Faso, as well as Mali, Guinea and, last month, Guinea-Bissau.
Benin called on the swift help of neighbouring Nigeria, which said late Sunday it had carried out military strikes on Cotonou and deployed troops.
West African regional bloc ECOWAS has also announced military support for Benin, but a meeting scheduled to take place in Abidjan on Monday was cancelled. The bloc had threatened intervention during Niger’s 2023 coup but ultimately did not act.
A military source said on Monday that they were “not in a position to say how many” people were implicated in the coup attempt, “nor how many are currently on the run”, but it was “presumed that many of them have fled” to the countryside.
“The search continues,” the source said, adding that “there have been arrests”.
Other sources said there had been around a dozen arrests, and that coup leader Lieutenant Colonel Pascal Tigri is on the run.
All hostages have meanwhile been “released,” according to the military source.
‘Prioritise dialogue’
In his address late Sunday, Talon said the country had “stood firm” and “cleared the last pockets of resistance”.
In Cotonou, the road to the presidential residence was closed Monday afternoon, and military tanks were seen elsewhere in the city.
The Economic Community of West African States said troops from Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Sierra Leone were being deployed to Benin to help the government “preserve constitutional order”.
The regional bloc, along with the United Nations, former colonial power France and the African Union, has condemned the coup attempt.
Under Benin’s constitution, Talon is not permitted to run for a third term but his designated successor, Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni, is considered a favourite for the Presidential election in April.
The main opposition Democrats party has been excluded from the ballot on the grounds that its candidate did not have sufficient sponsors.
In a statement seen by AFP on Monday, the party said it “rejects any seizure of power by force and strongly condemns these acts that do not honour our country.
“This heinous and tragic event once again highlights the need for all political actors in our country to prioritise dialogue,” it stated.
Although hailed for spurring economic growth, critics accuse Talon of authoritarianism in a country once praised for its democratic dynamism.
Benin’s political history has been marked by several coups and attempted coups since its independence from France in 1960.
Written with reports from FRANCE 24 and AFP
