Benin thwarts coup attempt

What happened

Benin’s government Sunday reasserted control after a coup attempt against President Patrice Talon. Eight soldiers calling themselves the Military Committee for Refoundation appeared on state television early Sunday and claimed that Talon had been overthrown and all state institutions dissolved, to restore “national cohesion.” But after a day of chaos in the West African nation, Talon appeared on state TV and said the situation was “totally under control” and “this treachery will not go unpunished.”

Who said what

Talon, 67, is “regarded as a close ally of the West” and has been “praised by his supporters for overseeing economic development,” the BBC said. Benin has also been “viewed as a relatively strong democracy” in a region rocked by recent coups, The Washington Post said, but Talon, near the end of his second five-term, “has grown increasingly authoritarian in recent years.”

“There are grievances in the country,” as Talon’s government “is repressive and the main opposition party has been barred from contesting in the elections,” Beverly Ochieng, a leading regional security analyst based in Senegal, told The New York Times. But “the soldiers seem to have misjudged the political mood in the country,” believing “people would come out to support them.”

What next?

The West African regional bloc ECOWAS said last night it had ordered a “regional standby force” to help defend Benin’s government “with immediate effect.” It “remained unclear how many soldiers might be deployed and when they would arrive,” the Times said. But Nigeria has already intervened, sending in fighter jets to “help dislodge the coup plotters,” a presidential spokesperson in Lagos said.

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