{"id":126470,"date":"2025-12-11T04:03:51","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T04:03:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/benin-coup-plot-leader-hiding-in-togo-official-tells-bbc\/"},"modified":"2025-12-11T04:03:51","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T04:03:51","slug":"benin-coup-plot-leader-hiding-in-togo-official-tells-bbc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/benin-coup-plot-leader-hiding-in-togo-official-tells-bbc\/","title":{"rendered":"Benin coup plot leader hiding in Togo, official tells BBC"},"content":{"rendered":"

A senior government official in Benin has told the BBC that the leader of Sunday\u2019s failed coup is taking refuge in neighbouring Togo.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said that the government would request Lt Col Pascal Tigri\u2019s extradition. Togo\u2019s government has not yet commented.<\/p>\n

The failed coup came after a series of military takeovers in West Africa, raising concern that democracy is increasingly under threat in the region.<\/p>\n

It was thwarted after regional power Nigeria sent fighter jets to dislodge the mutineers from a military base and the offices of state TV following a request from President Patrice Talon\u2019s government.<\/p>\n

A group of soldiers appeared on state TV early on Sunday to announce they had seized power, and gunfire was heard near the presidential residence.<\/p>\n

The Beninese government official said the authorities knew that Lt Col Pascal Tigri was in Togo\u2019s capital, Lom\u00e9, in the same area where President Faure Gnassingb\u00e9 lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know how to explain this but we will make an official extradition request and see how the Togolese authorities will react,\u201d the official added.<\/p>\n

There is no independent confirmation of the claim.<\/p>\n

Togo is part of the West African regional bloc, Ecowas, which condemned the coup attempt.<\/p>\n

French special forces also helped loyalist troops to thwart the coup, the head of the Benin\u2019s republican guard, which is in charge of protecting the president, told AFP news agency.<\/p>\n

Dieudonne Djimon Tevoedjre said Benin\u2019s troops were \u201ctruly valiant and faced the enemy all day\u201d on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrench special forces were sent from [Ivory Coast\u2019s main city] Abidjan, used for mopping up operations after the Beninese army had done the job,\u201d he was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n

Benin\u2019s government spokesman Wilfried L\u00e9andre Houngb\u00e9dji could not confirm the deployment of French forces.<\/p>\n

He told the BBC that as far as he knew, France had mainly provided intelligence support.<\/p>\n

Ecowas has deployed troops from Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Ivory Coast to secure key installations in Benin.<\/p>\n

The deployment signals that Ecowas is no longer willing to watch civilian governments fall without resistance.<\/p>\n

Benin, a former French colony, has been regarded as one of Africa\u2019s more stable democracies.<\/p>\n

The nation is one of the continent\u2019s largest cotton producers, but ranks among the world\u2019s poorest countries.<\/p>\n

Nigeria described the coup attempt as a \u201cdirect assault on democracy\u201d.<\/p>\n

Houngb\u00e9dji told the BBC that a small number of soldiers from the National Guard were behind the coup attempt.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe National Guard is a recent creation within our army, initiated by President Talon as part of our fight against terrorism. It is a land forces unit equipped with significant resources, following major investments in recent years, and its personnel are well trained,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Houngb\u00e9dji added that Talon asked Ecowas to carry out airstrikes to neutralise the mutineers following indications that they had planned to attack the main airport in Cotonou, Benin\u2019s largest city, putting at risk the lives of civilians living in the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis led to the strategy of carrying out targeted airstrikes to immobilise their equipment, including the armored vehicles they threatened to use,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The rebel soldiers justified their actions by criticising Talon\u2019s management of the country, complaining first about his handling of the \u201ccontinuing deterioration of the security situation in northern Benin\u201d.<\/p>\n

Benin\u2019s army has suffered losses near its northern border with insurgency-hit Niger and Burkina Faso in recent years, as jihadist militants linked to Islamic State and al-Qaeda spread southwards.<\/p>\n

The soldiers\u2019 statement cited \u201cthe ignorance and neglect of the situation of our brothers in arms who have fallen at the front and, above all, that of their families, abandoned to their sad fate by Mr Patrice Talon\u2019s policies\u201d.<\/p>\n

The rebels also hit out at cuts in health care, including the cancellation of state-funded kidney dialysis, and taxes rises, as well as curbs on political activities.Media caption,<\/p>\n

Watch: People in Benin felt \u2018total fear\u2019 at attempted coup<\/p>\n

Talon, who is regarded as a close ally of the West, is due to step down next year after completing his second term in office, with elections scheduled for April.<\/p>\n

A businessman known as the \u201cking of cotton\u201d, he first came to power in 2016. He has endorsed Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni as his successor.<\/p>\n

Talon has been praised by his supporters for overseeing economic development, but his government has also been criticised for suppressing dissenting voices.<\/p>\n

In October, Benin\u2019s electoral commission barred the main opposition candidate from contesting the election.<\/p>\n

The attempted coup came just over a week after Guinea-Bissau\u2019s President Umaro Sissoco Embal\u00f3 was overthrown \u2013 though some regional figures have questioned whether this was staged.<\/p>\n

In recent years, West Africa has also seen coups in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali and Niger, prompting concerns about the region\u2019s stability.<\/p>\n

Russia has strengthened its ties with these Sahel countries over recent years \u2013 and Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have left the West African regional bloc Ecowas to form their own group, the Alliance of Sahel States.<\/p>\n

News of the attempted takeover in Benin was hailed by several pro-Russian social media accounts, according to BBC Monitoring.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A senior government official in Benin has told the BBC that the leader of Sunday\u2019s failed coup is taking refuge in neighbouring Togo. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said that the government would request Lt Col Pascal Tigri\u2019s extradition. Togo\u2019s government has not yet commented. The failed coup came after a series of […]<\/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-126470","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\/126470","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=126470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126470\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}