A coup attempt announced in Benin on Sunday has been “thwarted,” according to the country’s interior minister, Alassane Seidou, who addressed the public in a video posted on Facebook.
Seidou said that “in the early hours of Sunday, December 7, 2025, a small faction within the military launched a mutiny aimed at destabilizing the state and its institutions.” He added that the Beninese Armed Forces, along with their commanders, upheld their oath to the Republic, responding swiftly to regain control and foil the attempt.
The statement followed an earlier broadcast on Benin’s state television in which a group of soldiers declared the dissolution of the government in what appeared to be a coup. The soldiers, identifying themselves as the Military Committee for Refoundation, claimed to have removed President Patrice Talon and disbanded all state institutions, naming Lt. Col. Pascal Tigri as their leader.
There has been no confirmed information regarding President Talon’s status after gunfire was reported near the presidential residence. However, state television and public radio temporarily taken off air during the upheaval have since resumed broadcasting.
A region unsettled by coups
Benin’s attempted coup adds to a series of military seizures of power that have shaken West Africa in recent years. Just last month, a coup in Guinea-Bissau ousted former President Umaro Embalo following a disputed election in which both he and the opposition candidate claimed victory.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) denounced the events in Benin, calling the attempted takeover unconstitutional. In its statement, the bloc said it “strongly condemns this subversion of the will of the Beninese people” and pledged full support to the government and citizens in defending the constitution and the country’s territorial integrity.
President Talon, in office since 2016, had been scheduled to leave office next April after the presidential election. His party’s candidate, former Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni, is widely seen as the frontrunner. The opposition’s contender, Renaud Agbodjo, was excluded from the race by the electoral commission for lacking the required number of sponsors.
In November, Benin’s parliament voted to extend the presidential term from five to seven years, while keeping the two-term limit intact.
Benin experienced numerous coups in the years following independence from France in 1960, though it has largely maintained political stability since 1991 after the long rule of Marxist-Leninist leader Mathieu Kérékou.
Earlier this year, two of Talon’s associates received 20-year prison sentences for their involvement in an alleged coup plot in 2024.
