Cotonou, Benin – In a swift show of regional solidarity, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Sunday ordered the immediate deployment of its standby force to Benin, bolstering the West African nation's defenses just hours after loyalist troops quashed a brazen coup attempt against President Patrice Talon. The multinational contingent — comprising soldiers from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, and Ghana — aims to safeguard constitutional order and territorial integrity amid fears that the plot could ignite broader instability in a region scarred by successive military takeovers. As gunfire echoes faded in Cotonou's streets and state broadcaster Benin TV resumed normal programming, Talon's government vowed retribution against the mutineers, while analysts warned of a "coup contagion" rippling from neighboring Guinea-Bissau's November upheaval weeks earlier.
The drama unfolded in the early hours of December 7, when a cadre of disgruntled soldiers stormed the headquarters of Benin's radio and television station in the administrative capital, seizing the airwaves to declare the ouster of Talon and the dissolution of all state institutions. Eight armed officers, their faces partially obscured, read a communiqué on live television, announcing the formation of the "Military Committee for Refoundation" and appointing Lt. Col. Pascal Tigri as its president. Tigri, a mid-level army officer previously stationed in northern Benin, justified the power grab by decrying Talon's alleged mismanagement: favoritism in military promotions, neglect of fallen soldiers' families, healthcare cuts, tax hikes, and the "deteriorating security situation" along the porous northern borders with Burkina Faso and Niger — hotbeds of jihadist insurgency. The rebels suspended the constitution, shuttered political parties, and ordered the closure of Benin's land, sea, and air borders, plunging the nation of 14.5 million into uncertainty.
Chaos ensued as explosions rocked Camp Guézo near Talon's residence in Porto-Novo, the political capital, and gunfire rattled Boulevard de la Marina, site of the Presidential Palace and National Assembly. Eyewitnesses reported military vehicles screeching through Cotonou's markets, with locals barricading doors and fleeing on motorcycles as social media flooded with videos of armored convoys and plumes of smoke. The broadcast signal cut abruptly, only to flicker back under government control by mid-morning. Interior Minister Alassane Seidou, in a Facebook video, declared the mutiny "foiled" by 11:09 a.m., crediting the Beninese Armed Forces' loyalty to their oath. "A small group of soldiers launched a mutiny to destabilize the state," Seidou said, urging citizens to resume daily activities despite sporadic shots in the capital's outskirts.
Talon, whose whereabouts during the initial assault remained unclear, emerged on Benin TV that evening, his voice steady: "The situation is totally under control. This treachery will not go unpunished." He praised the "rapid mobilization" of loyal forces, which reclaimed key sites including the Togbin military camp where plotters had regrouped. Government spokesman Wilfried Léandre Houngbedji confirmed 14 arrests, including 12 active-duty soldiers and one dismissed officer; 13 were linked to the TV station siege. Tigri, however, evaded capture, his status as a fugitive heightening tensions as security sweeps continued into the night.
Benin's pleas for external aid proved pivotal. Through its Foreign Ministry, the government issued two urgent requests to Nigeria: first for "immediate air support" to retake the broadcaster and camp, citing the "urgency and seriousness" of the threat; second for surveillance flights and rapid interventions, coordinated by Beninese command. President Bola Tinubu, also ECOWAS chair, authorized Nigerian Air Force jets from Lagos to seize Benin's airspace, conducting precision strikes on rebel holdouts. Ground troops followed, restricted to "missions approved by Beninese Command" to shield institutions and contain insurgents.
ECOWAS's response crystallized the bloc's zero-tolerance pivot. In its first communiqué, it branded the bid "unconstitutional" and a "subversion of the Beninese people," pledging "all forms necessary" support, including standby forces. Hours later, invoking the 1999 Protocol on Conflict Prevention, ECOWAS activated its 5,000-strong brigade — formed earlier in 2025 amid Sahel insurgencies — for Benin. The force will "preserve constitutional order and territorial integrity," with arrivals imminent via Cotonou's airport. The African Union echoed the condemnation, vowing coordination for democratic restoration.
This intervention marks ECOWAS's boldest since Niger's 2023 ouster of President Mohamed Bazoum, where sanctions and threats of force yielded mixed results. Benin, a bastion of stability since its 1991 multiparty polls — the last successful coup in 1972 — now joins a grim tally: Mali and Guinea (2021), Burkina Faso (2022), Niger (2023), and Guinea-Bissau mere weeks prior. On November 26, Guinea-Bissau's Brigadier General Dinis Incanha arrested President Umaro Sissoco Embaló days before election results, installing Gen. Horta Inta-A as transitional leader for a one-year term amid fraud allegations. Opposition cries of a "fabricated coup" to derail incumbent loss prompted ECOWAS suspension and AU freeze, with Embaló fleeing to Senegal.
Talon's tenure, a decade-long blend of infrastructure booms and authoritarian drifts, sowed seeds of discontent. Re-elected in 2021 amid opposition boycotts, the cotton magnate amended the charter to seek a third term, barred rivals, and cracked down on media — moves branded "electoral authoritarianism." Northern insecurity, with jihadists spilling from Burkina Faso, strained the army; unpaid pensions and unequal promotions festered. Yet Benin's economy hummed — GDP growth at 6.6% in 2024 — bolstered by Porto-Novo's ports and cotton exports, insulating it from Sahel volatility.
By dusk on December 7, Cotonou's junctions normalized, though checkpoints dotted roads to the palace. ECOWAS's gambit tests the bloc's resolve post-Niger sanctions' backlash — Burkina, Mali, and Niger's defection to the Alliance of Sahel States. As troops from Abuja and Accra mobilize, Benin's crossroads — fortified democracy or fragile flashpoint — looms large. Talon's retribution pledge, with Tigri at large, signals trials ahead; ECOWAS's force, a bulwark against the "coup belt's" creep. In West Africa's fragile mosaic, Sunday's stand may yet echo as defiance.
