US EditionWhen the Army Comes Knocking: Benin’s Failed Coup and West African Instability
7 Articles
7 Articles
When the army comes knocking: Benin’s failed coup and West African instability
Cover image: picture alliance / REUTERS | Charles Placide Tossou Problem In the early hours of December 7th, a group of officers calling themselves the Military Committee for Refoundation appeared on Benin’s state television to announce the removal of the country’s president, Patrice Talon, the suspension of the constitution and their seizure of power. It follows an all too familiar pattern across West Africa. Just days earlier, soldiers in Guin…
Many members of the Republican Bloc (BR), one of the two ruling parties, met in Cotonou on 10 December to express their support for President Talon.
For some time, Africa Education has been critical of the marked democratic retreat observed in Benin. Led by Patrice Talon, many of whom only discover today the face of the autocrat, this country has never been the peaceful territory that the Cotonou authorities presented to the whole world as a justification. Without Nigeria and France who intervened in-extremis, it would have experienced a putsch on 7 December that few could have imagined. The…
Benin’s Failed Coup: Three Factors Behind The Takeover Attempt
By John Joseph Chin Growing autocratic rule, a rise in jihadist attacks and a proliferation of coups in the Sahel contributed to the attempt by Benin’s military to seize power Military elements attempted to topple Benin’s government in early December 2025. However, unlike other coups across the Sahel and west Africa since 2020, this bid triggered a military response from Benin’s neighbours. Benin is a west African state of 14.8 million people b…
My first post of ambassador was in Benin, formerly Dahomey, West Africa. That's why I was all the more irritated on Sunday (7.12.25) when both African and later German media reported on a group of rebel soldiers who occupied the state television station in Cotonou and announced the dismissal of the elected President Patrice Talon (first election in 2016, re-election in 2021). However, after twelve hours, the regular military had brought the insu…
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