{"id":126161,"date":"2025-12-07T11:03:22","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T11:03:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/benin-soldiers-announce-coup-ahead-of-president-talons-planned-exit-from-office\/"},"modified":"2025-12-07T11:03:22","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T11:03:22","slug":"benin-soldiers-announce-coup-ahead-of-president-talons-planned-exit-from-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/benin-soldiers-announce-coup-ahead-of-president-talons-planned-exit-from-office\/","title":{"rendered":"Benin soldiers announce coup ahead of President Talon\u2019s planned exit from office"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 7 \u2013 Soldiers in Benin announced on national television on Sunday that they have seized power and ousted President Patrice Talon.<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to the BBC, the military declared the suspension of the constitution and the closure of all land borders and the country\u2019s airspace. Lieutenant-Colonel Tigri Pascal was named head of a military transition council.<\/p>\n

In their televised address, the soldiers cited dissatisfaction with President Talon\u2019s governance as justification for the takeover.<\/p>\n

Gunfire was reported near the presidential residence, according to the French Embassy in Benin, which urged French citizens to remain indoors.<\/p>\n

The US Embassy in Cotonou also issued a security alert, advising citizens to avoid the area around the presidential compound, stay away from crowds and demonstrations, monitor local media, maintain a low profile, and inform friends and family of their safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe US Embassy in Cotonou is monitoring reports of gunfire in Cotonou, as well as unconfirmed reports of a coup by members of the military,\u201d the Embassy said.<\/p>\n

President Talon, 67, was scheduled to leave office next year after completing his second term, with elections planned for April. Talon, who first took office in 2016, had pledged not to seek a third term and had already named a successor.<\/p>\n

\u2018Ceremonial coups\u2019<\/h2>\n

The apparent coup comes just over a week after the overthrow of Umaro Sissoco Embal\u00f3 in neighboring Guinea-Bissau.<\/p>\n

West Africa has experienced a wave of coups in recent years \u2014 including in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, and Niger \u2014 heightening concerns about regional stability.<\/p>\n

On November 29, Senegal\u2019s Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko and Nigeria\u2019s former President Goodluck Jonathan questioned whether Embal\u00f3\u2019s removal in Guinea-Bissau was a genuine coup. <\/p>\n

Embal\u00f3 was ousted a day before authorities were due to release election results.<\/p>\n

The military suspended the electoral process and blocked the results, claiming it had foiled a plot to destabilize the country.<\/p>\n

After his release, Embal\u00f3 arrived in Senegal on a chartered military flight. <\/p>\n

Both Sonko and Jonathan \u2014 who led election observation missions \u2014 described the incident as a \u201cceremonial coup\u201d or \u201csham,\u201d noting that Embal\u00f3 himself announced his removal.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 7 \u2013 Soldiers in Benin announced on national television on Sunday that they have seized power and ousted President Patrice Talon. According to the BBC, the military declared the suspension of the constitution and the closure of all land borders and the country\u2019s airspace. Lieutenant-Colonel Tigri Pascal was named head of a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126161\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}