Cotonou, Benin – Under the humid glow of streetlights in the administrative capital, President Patrice Talon addressed a tense nation on Sunday evening, December 7, 2025, assuring citizens that the "situation is totally under control" following a daring but ultimately thwarted coup attempt by a faction of disgruntled soldiers. Broadcast live on state-owned Benin TV, Talon's composed demeanor belied the morning's chaos: gunfire echoing through Cotonou's boulevards, armored vehicles rumbling past markets, and a brief hijacking of the airwaves where mutineers proclaimed his ouster. With loyalist forces reclaiming key sites and regional allies mobilizing, the episode — echoing the November coup in neighboring Guinea-Bissau — has reignited alarms over West Africa's "coup belt," where democratic gains teeter amid economic woes and jihadist threats.
The plot unraveled in the pre-dawn hours, when approximately eight armed soldiers, faces masked and rifles slung, stormed the headquarters of Benin's radio and television station in Cotonou's bustling Akpakpa district. Bursting into the studio at around 6:00 a.m., they seized the microphone during a routine broadcast, declaring the formation of the "Military Committee for Refoundation" and appointing Lieutenant Colonel Pascal Tigri as its leader. Tigri, a 48-year-old career officer stationed in northern Benin near the volatile Burkina Faso border, appeared on screen flanked by subordinates, his uniform crisp but voice laced with urgency. "The Beninese people deserve a new era of fraternity, justice, and work," he proclaimed, suspending the constitution, dissolving parliament and the judiciary, and ordering borders sealed. The grievances aired were pointed: Talon's alleged favoritism in military promotions, neglect of families of slain soldiers, healthcare budget slashes, tax hikes squeezing the cotton-dependent economy, and worsening insecurity from Sahel spillover.
Simultaneously, explosions rocked Camp Guézo, a military barracks near Talon's Porto-Novo residence, and gunfire peppered Boulevard de la Marina, home to the Presidential Palace and National Assembly. Eyewitnesses, huddled in markets or fleeing on mopeds, described helicopters buzzing overhead and armored convoys sealing off junctions like Saint-Michel. Social media erupted with grainy videos of smoke plumes and fleeing crowds. The broadcast cut after 20 minutes, plunging the nation into a fog of rumor as mobile networks strained under frantic calls.
By 11:09 a.m., Interior Minister Alassane Seidou shattered the silence with a Facebook video from a secure location, his tone resolute: "In the early morning of Sunday, December 7, 2025, a small group of soldiers launched a mutiny to destabilize the state and its institutions." He credited the "republican and loyal" Beninese Armed Forces for swift action, urging normalcy despite "sporadic shots" in outskirts. Government spokesman Wilfried Léandre Houngbedji confirmed 14 arrests by afternoon — 12 active-duty soldiers, one dismissed officer, and a civilian — most tied to the TV siege. Tigri, however, slipped the net, his whereabouts unknown as of Monday; security sweeps continue in northern hideouts. Casualties remained unclear — Talon alluded to "victims" and "hostages" held by fleeing mutineers, including two officers later freed — but no official toll emerged.
Talón's 7:00 p.m. address from the People's Palace marked his first appearance, quelling whispers of his flight or injury. "As president and supreme chief of the armies, I undertook necessary measures to ensure security," he stated, lauding loyalists who "stood firm, recaptured positions, and cleared resistance pockets." He vowed: "This treachery will not go unpunished," signaling tribunals. By dusk, Cotonou's pulse steadied — markets reopened, traffic flowed past checkpoints — but patrols lingered.
Benin's cries for aid proved decisive. Two urgent Foreign Ministry notes to Nigeria sought "immediate air support" for the TV station and Togbin camp, followed by surveillance and ground ops under Beninese command. President Bola Tinubu, ECOWAS chair, greenlit Nigerian Air Force jets from Lagos, which seized airspace by 9:00 a.m., delivering precision strikes on rebel pockets. Ground troops followed, bolstering palace defenses.
ECOWAS amplified the response, invoking its 1999 Protocol to deploy a 5,000-strong standby brigade — elements from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, and Ghana — arriving via Cotonou's airport by Monday. The bloc decried the "unconstitutional subversion," pledging "all forms necessary" aid. The African Union echoed, condemning the "affront to democracy."
This near-miss spotlights Benin's paradoxes. A model since 1991's democratic dawn — last successful coup 1972 — Talon's 2016–2021 rise on anti-corruption vows soured into "electoral authoritarianism": 2021 re-election amid boycotts, rival bans, media curbs. Yet growth hummed at 6.6% in 2024, fueled by ports and cotton. Northern jihadist incursions strain the force, unpaid pensions fester. The plot was "no surprise" amid third-term whispers for 2026.
It fits a dire pattern: Guinea-Bissau's November 26 coup installed Gen. Horta Inta-A after arresting President Umaro Sissoco Embaló pre-results. Opposition decried a "fabricated" ploy to dodge defeat; ECOWAS/AU suspended Bissau. Precedents abound: Mali/Guinea (2021), Burkina Faso (2022), Niger (2023) — Sahel alliances defecting ECOWAS for Russian ties. Benin, spared till now, risks contagion.
As patrols ease Monday, defiance trended on social media — supporters rallying markets. Yet skeptics questioned the "failed" narrative. ECOWAS's force tests resolve post-Niger sanctions' backlash; Talon's crackdown may deter or deepen rifts. In West Africa's mosaic — democracy's cradle turned coup cradle — Benin's brush with abyss underscores: vigilance, not complacency, guards the ballot.
