Benin coup leader’s location and fate of hostages unknown after failed takeover
12/08/25
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — The apparent leader of a failed coup in Benin remained on the run and the fate of hostages remained unclear on Monday, a day after a
group of soldiers attempted to overthrow the government of
the West African nation.
The soldiers, calling themselves the Committee for Refoundation, stormed the national television station on Sunday morning. Led by Lt. Col. Pascal Tigri, eight soldiers appeared in a broadcast announcing the removal of President Patrice Talon, dissolution of the government and 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.
By Sunday afternoon, the coup was foiled by Benin’s military, supported by Nigerian air and ground forces, which launched attacks against fleeing mutineers. At least a dozen soldiers were arrested, while others remained at large. Tigri’s whereabouts weren’t known.
Calm returned to Cotonou, Benin’s administrative center, with soldiers on the streets.
Talon described the coup late Sunday as a “senseless adventure,” and said the situation was under control. He vowed to punish mutineers and ensure the safety of hostages, including some believed to be senior military officers. He didn’t disclose their identities, and it wasn’t clear how many were held.
The Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, said Sunday that it had deployed a standby force to Benin to help preserve democracy. The troops included personnel from Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone. The size of the force was unclear.
A Nigerian government spokesperson said in a statement that Talon had requested Nigeria’s help. It wasn’t clear how many personnel or how much equipment had been deployed.
Nigeria and the ECOWAS regional bloc hadn’t intervened in a member state since 2017, when it sent troops to Gambia to force then President Yahya Jammeh to vacate power following his election loss.
The bloc, led by Nigeria, tried to intervene in Niger after
the country’s 2023 coup. At that time, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu led the bloc. His threat to intervene if the junta didn’t restore
the ousted democratic government resulted in a standoff between the bloc and three junta-led countries, and they later left the bloc.
Analysts say Nigeria has a strategic interest in defending its borders, especially now, while it experiences a severe security crisis.
“The coup in Benin is one too many. Nigeria cannot afford to be encircled by hostile governments,” Oluwole Ojewale, a senior security researcher at Dakar-based Institute for Security Studies, told The Associated Press.
The attempted coup is the latest in a
spate of coups that have rocked West Africa since 2020. Soldiers seized power last month in Guinea-Bissau after a disputed election result, following Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Guinea and Gabon among the countries that have experienced similar takeovers in the past five years.
Analysts say ECOWAS lacks consistency in its response. In Gabon and Guinea-Bissau, the bloc was less assertive, and it has watched some other leaders stay in office via constitutional changes.
“You can make the argument that Tinubu needed to show some strength in preserving democracy, but this now speaks to ECOWAS’ double standard ... It would appear that there are certain presidents who are part of the club, and when they behave anyhow, nobody says anything,” said Cheta Nwanze, a partner at the Lagos-based SBM Intelligence geopolitical consultancy firm.
Despite a history of coups following its independence from France in 1960, Benin has enjoyed relative calm in the past two decades. The country is set to elect a new president in April, because Talon is set to leave office after a decade in power
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shyt like this been going on since the end of the colonial era.
