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Apparent leader of a failed coup benin He was still on the run a day after a group of soldiers attempted to overthrow the West African nation’s government and the fate of the hostages remained unclear.
Soldiers calling themselves the Committee for Refoundation stormed the national television station on Sunday morning. Led by Lieutenant Colonel Pascal Tigris, eight soldiers appeared in a broadcast announcing the removal of President Patrice Talon, dissolving the government, and suspending state institutions.
By Sunday afternoon, the coup was foiled by Benin’s military, supported by Nigerian air and ground forces, which launched attacks against the fleeing rebels. At least a dozen soldiers were arrested while others remained free on Monday. The whereabouts of Tigri were not known.
Calm They returned to Cotonou, Benin’s administrative center, on Monday with troops in the streets.
Talon described the coup late Sunday as a “foolish adventure” and said the situation was under control. He vowed to punish the rebels and ensure the safety of the hostages, who included some senior military officers. He did not reveal their identities, and it was unclear how many people were captured.
The regional bloc of the Economic Community of West African States said on Sunday it had deployed an additional 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 spokesman said in a statement that Talon had requested help from Nigeria. It was unclear how many personnel or material were deployed.
Nigeria and ECOWAS had not intervened in a member state since 2017, when it sent troops to the Gambia. yahya jammeh To vacate power after election defeat.
The Nigeria-led faction tried to intervene in Niger after the 2023 coup. At that time, Tinubu led the faction. His threat to intervene if the junta did not reinstate the ousted democratic government resulted in a standoff between the bloc and the three junta-led countries and he subsequently left the bloc.
Analysts said Nigeria has a strategic interest in protecting its borders, especially now that it is experiencing a serious security crisis.
“The coup in Benin is just one of many coups. Nigeria cannot afford to be cornered by hostile governments,” Oluwole Ojewale, a senior security researcher at the Dakar-based Institute for Security Studies, told The Associated Press.
The attempted coup is the latest in a series of coups that have rocked West Africa since 2020. Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Guinea and Gabon are among the countries that have experienced similar takeovers in the past five years, after troops seized power in Guinea-Bissau last month following disputed election results.
Analysts say ECOWAS’s response lacks consistency. In Gabon and Guinea-Bissau, the bloc was less vocal, and has seen few other leaders remain in office through constitutional changes.
“You can argue that Tinubu needs to show some strength to preserve democracy, but this now shows the double standards of ECOWAS… It appears that there are some presidents who are part of the club, and when they behave any differently, no one says anything,” said Cheta Nwanze, partner at Lagos-based SBM Intelligence geopolitical consultancy firm.
Despite a history of coups after independence from France in 1960, Benin has enjoyed relative peace over the past two decades. The country is set to elect a new president next April as Talon is set to step down after 10 years in power.