Journalism of Courage
An attempted military coup in Benin has been “foiled,” Interior Minister Alassane Seidou said Sunday in a video on Facebook. “In the early morning of Sunday, December 7, 2025, a small group of soldiers launched a mutiny with the aim of destabilising the state and its institutions,” Seidou said.
“Faced with this situation, the Beninese Armed Forces and their leadership, true to their oath, remained committed to the republic.”
Earlier, a group of soldiers had taken over the broadcast of TV in the West African to announce the dissolution of the government led by President Patrice Talon.
The group, which called itself the Military Committee for Refoundation, announced the removal of the president and all state institutions.
According to the soldiers, Lt. Col. Pascal Tigri has been appointed president of the military committee.
After the coup attempt was foiled, 13 soldiers who took part in the uprising were arrested. Local media reported that the fate of the coup leader Tigri and the whereabouts of president Talon are unknown.
Talon has been in power since 2016 and was due to step down next April after the presidential election.
Last month, the country’s legislature extended the presidential term of office from five to seven years, keeping the term limit at two.
Talon who is in his second term was projected to be succeeded by former Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni in the elections, scheduled for next year. Opposition candidate Renaud Agbodjo was rejected by the electoral commission on the grounds that he did not have sufficient sponsors.
The US Embassy in Cotonou said it is monitoring reports and urged Americans to exercise caution.
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 Mathieu Kérékou, a Marxist-Leninist who renamed the country the People’s Republic of Benin.
