The coup announced in Benin on Sunday has been “thwarted,” the Associated Press reported, citing Benin’s interior minister.
“In the early morning hours of Sunday, December 7, 2025, a small group of soldiers mutinied with the aim of destabilizing the state and its institutions,” Alassane Seydoux said in a Facebook video.
“In the face of this situation, the Benin Armed Forces and its leadership remained true to its oath and continued to serve the Republic.”
Earlier, a group of soldiers appeared on Benin’s state television on Sunday to announce the dissolution of the government in an apparent coup, the latest of many coups in West Africa.
The group, which calls itself the Military Committee for Reconstruction, announced the removal of the president and all state institutions. Lieutenant Colonel Pascal Tigri has been appointed chairman of the military commission, soldiers said.
After gaining independence from France in 1960, the West African country witnessed multiple coups, especially in the decades following independence. Since 1991, the country has been politically stable under 20 years of rule by Marxist-Leninist Mathieu Kerekou.
There has been no official news regarding President Patrice Tallon since gunshots were heard near the presidential palace. However, the signals to state television and public radio that had been cut off have now been restored.
The regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), condemned the coup.
Tallon has been in power since 2016 and is scheduled to step down after the presidential election next April.