Benin coup attempt foiled by loyalist troops, interior minister says ⁰

The government of Benin says it has foiled an attempted coup by members of the West African nation’s armed forces.

“The Beninese armed forces and their leadership, true to their oath, remained committed to the republic,” Interior Minister Alassane Seidou said in a televised address.

Earlier on Sunday, a group of soldiers made a broadcast in which they said they had ousted President Patrice Talon. Eyewitnesses told the BBC that they had heard gunshots, and some journalists working for the state broadcaster had been held hostage.

A presidential adviser has since told the BBC the president was in a safe location.

French diplomats denied earlier reports that he had taken refuge at France’s embassy in Cotonou, Benin’s largest city and the seat of the country’s government.

There have been a series of coups in West Africa before Sunday’s thwarted attempt in Benin, heightening fears that the security of the region could worsen.

Benin, a former French colony, has been regarded as one of Africa’s more stable democracies. But Talon has faced accusations of suppressing criticism of his policies.

The nation is one of the continent’s largest cotton producers, but ranks among the world’s poorest countries.

Seidou said in his address that “a small group of soldiers launched a mutiny aimed at destabilising the state and its institutions”, adding that loyalist soldiers had been able “to retain control of the situation and foil the attempt”.

Fourteen people have been arrested in connection with the attempted coup, government spokesperson Wilfried Leandre Houngbedji told news agency Reuters.

A journalist in Benin told the BBC that, of those reportedly arrested, 12 are believed to have stormed the offices of the national TV station – including a soldier who had previously been sacked.

Source: BBC