Benin Foiled Coup & Two (2) Key Takeaways

Foiled Sunday Coup
It was on a Sunday morning, 7 December 2025 in the West African country of Benin when around 43-52% of Benin christian population had gone or were going to church, presumably to pray, pray for a better Benin and a better Africa. But this group of armed men identifying themselves as Millitary for Refoundation Committe under Colonel Pascal Tigri chose something else.They chose not prayer but action, storming and seizing key installations and strategic locations in the capital, Cotonou, targeting especially those around the presidential palace. The group stormed Benin national television, eight (8) of them appeared on national television claiming to have seized power. The group of soldiers announced the removal of President Patrice Talon, dissolution of the government and suspension of all state institutions.The Millitary for Refoundation Committe mentioned deteriorating security sitiuation in northern Benin "coupled with disregard and neglect of our fallen brothers in arms" as a point of discontentment. Gunfire erupted. Security forces responded.Within hours the Cotonou Talon admnstration announced a coup attempt had been foiled.

Benin- An unlikely candidate for a coup

Benin gained it's independence from France in 1960. A country with an estimated 14 million people. Despite a history of coups following its independence from France in 1960, with the last successful coup coming in 1972, the tiny west African country has enjoyed uninterrupted democratic rule in the past two decades....and has been over the years considered as a more stable, democratic outpost in a coup ravaged region of West Africa. Benin is one of Africa's largest cotton producers, though ranked among the world's poorest countries. What came on Sunday 7 December 2025, was a surprise package and the coup attempt has been described as a "direct assault on democracy".

Surprise Package
Benin has always been considered an exception in the region (West Africa), a stable oasis of democracy. A country more stable, a democratic outpost in the coup ravaged region. No one saw it coming. No one ever thought these contagious coup affliction will spread into Cotonou. But the events of Sunday 7 December 2025 came as a surprise package. Showing no one is safe in West Africa specifically and in Africa in general from these spreading coups.Benin last successful coup took place in 1972. The attempt came as Benin is preparing for a presidential election in April of 2026 that would mark the end of the tenure of Talon (67 years), who has held power since 2016. Talon has been credited with reviving the economy, but the country has also seen an increase in attacks by jihadist militants that have wreaked havoc in Mali and Burkina Faso.

Reaction
President of Benin, Patrice Talon Response

On the evening of Sunday 7 December 2025,Talon came on state television saying,

“I would like to assure you that the situation is completely under control and therefore invite you to calmly go about your activities starting this very evening,”

further explaining that the rapid mobilisation of forces loyal to the government,

“allowed us to thwart these adventurers”,

“This treachery will not go unpunished”

he added.
President Talon, in his address, expressed his condolences

“to the victims of this senseless adventure, as well as to those still being held by fleeing mutineers".

African Union (AU)
African Union Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, in a statement,

“strongly and unequivocally condemns the military coup attempt",

in Benin, stressing that any form of military interference in political processes is

“a grave violation of the fundamental principles and values”, of the (AU).

Economic Community Of West Africa (ECOWAS)

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in a statement also said it strongly condemned the attempted military coup and would support efforts by the government to restore order. ECOWAS said it has ordered the deployment of a regional troop comprising personnel from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast and Ghana to support Benin’s army to

“preserve constitutional order and the territorial integrity of the Republic of Benin".

United Nations (UN)
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attempted coup, saying it would,

“further threaten the stability of the region”.

Finally, ECOWAS Reacts
West Africa’s regional blocb(ECOWAS)– said it had ordered the immediate deployment of elements of its standby force to Cotonou (Benin). Soldiers from Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Sierra Leone were being sent to "support the government and the Republican Army of Benin to preserve constitutional order and the territorial integrity of the Republic of Benin", ECOWAS said in a statement.

Under ECOWAS, Nigeria’s air force also struck targets in Benin, the Nigerian president’s office confirmed.Responding to two requests from Benin’s government, Nigeria’s president, Bola Tinubu,

“ordered Nigerian air force fighter jets to enter the country and take over the airspace to help dislodge the coup plotters from the national TV and a military camp where they had regrouped,” his office said.

THE TWO KEY TAKEAWAYS
Takeaway 1- Nigerian Paradox
During that time, at least six explosions were reported in Cotonou as the Nigeria air force struck military targets in Cotonou, Benin , in attempts to protect embattled French-backed Benin President Patrice Talon. Nigeria projected regional leadership, millitary as well as diplomatic strength in this whole Benin fiasco. This is also a paradox. For despite projecting that, internally, Nigeria continues to experience ever deepening, spiralling out of control internal and domestic security challenges of it's own, which it seems is failing to handle, manage and contain. Why is it so?

A country struggling to put a stop or effectively deal with decade- long insurgency is swiftly deploying soldiers, aircraft to a foreign country and gets the job done quickly but is finding it extremely deal with it's domestic security threats .. why? The job was well done in a foreign adventure as as implied by Tinubu statement,

"Today, the Nigerian armed forces stood gallantly as a defender and protector of a constitutional order in the Republic of Benin on the invitation of the government".

But the question is when is Nigeria army going to stand gallantly and deal with security threats, deal with religious insurgency , deal with militias in it's own home so as to stop daily kidnappings, killings of both Muslims and Christians in Nigeria?

And again, is there a connection between Macaroni's Tweet and Nigeria intervention in Benin, suggestive of the notion that Nigeria' took instruction from Paris (Africa is taking instructions from the West),

"I conveyed France's solidarity (with Nigeria) in the face of various security challenges", Macron wrote on his tweet.

Resulting in the question as to Why France should have anything to do with whether the Nigerian millitary needs to act on something or not?

Dr Aminu Hayatu of Bayero University Kano point out that there is little justification in speculating about any such link, arguing that there is no evidence the French explicitly asked Nigeria' to intervene in Benin.Hayatu said,

"I think that even if there is a great deal of diplomatic cooperation and involvement with France, the French President doesn't have to give a directive to the Nigerian President for him to be able to intervene".

Nigeria some argue,did well to assist in thwarting Beni coup,but it can send the message that Nigeria has capacity and resources to deal with insurgency in it's own backyard but is compromising Internally.

Surprisingly, Nigeria has no capacity to protect its civilians from Boko Haram and other terrorist groups but has resources to protect French puppets in Benin, this is more lugubrious.

Nigeria under ECOWAS sent it's army to help with bombing of Benin and thwart the Coup attempt. A Nigerian army which cannot protect it's own citizens from Boko Haram. An army which cannot stop killing of Christians & Muslims day and night in Nigeria... suddenly can be seen in Benin defending *la French backed Talon. An army which does not have the resources or capacity to stop killing of Christians & Muslims by militias in Nigeria. But such an army has the resources and capacity to defend a French backed Patrice Talon in Cotonou.

Takeaway 2: France & Former Colonies In Africa

"Many of former French colonies are controlled from Paris. People are getting tired and poorer,their leaders are getting richer, and the millitary now sees itself as the saviour", Professor PLO Lumumba.

Reports pointed that France provided intelligence and logistical support to Benin to ‍help thwart ‌Sunday's coup attempt in Cotonou. During the the coup French war planes were circling in the skies of Cotonou, conducting observation and reconnaissance operations. Paris confirmed this saying it was closely monitoring the situation. It is said that Presidents Emmanuel Macron and Patrice Talon spoke by phone while the coup attempt was still under way on Sunday 7 December. The French president then lobbied Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu to intervene. According to certain sources, Emmanuel Macron told his Beninese counterpart, Patrice Talon, that he had pre-positioned French special forces in Cotonou, which had been put on alert as events began that morning. The Elysee Palace later confirmed on Tuesday 9 December that President Macron “led a coordination effort" and spoke to Benin’s President Patrice Talon, as well as representatives of ECOWAS. Macron led a " coordination effort" by speaking with key regional leaders, while France – at the request of the Beninese authorities – provided assistance "in terms of surveillance, observation and logistical support" to the Benin armed forces.

But honestly, any African leader who requires a foreign power, moreso, from the West (France) to bomb his own capital city so that he stays in power, has not only lost his people, and in all essence is no longer serving interests of his people, but interests of his saviours so as to speak. Unfortunately, Africa has so many Patrice Talons.Puppet leadership par excellence. Why would France be so much interested in having Talon in power? Is France afraid of loosing another neo- colonial colony to a coup. This gives credence to the argument by the likes of Ibrahim Traore that France has never let go of its former colonies. Again, why would an African leader need foreign interest to support him in power? These are serious questions Africa needs to ask herself.

Conclusion
Benin's armed forces, backed by Nigerian firepower and French intelligence and logistical support, thwarted the coup attempt in Cotonou. Rumours said Colonel Tigril, the coup mastermind fled to neighbouring Togo. In as much as focus is on the coup aspect in the coup ravaged West Africa... how the coup was thwarted and actors involved in the thwarting raises some key questions. Nigeria' swiftly and emphatically dealt with the coup attempt to protect a French backed Talon , but such swiftness & emphatic response is lacking, as some observers point out, when it comes to Nigeria' protecting it's own citizens from religious insurgency and militias who have murdered and still continue to murder thousands of Christians and Muslims in Nigeria. Again, French involvement, though it helped to quash a coup, raises more questions than answers. What are French interests in former colonies? This gives credence to those arguments,that France is not yet done manipulating, controlling and exploiting former colonies like Benin. Such arguments, given to how things unfolded in thwarting this particular Benin coup attempt in Cotonou seems to hold water.

F. Madondo (African Teacher) fortmada123@gmail.com

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