By Lawrence Williams
West Africa’s regional bloc ECOWAS has ordered the immediate deployment of a standby military force to Benin to help safeguard “constitutional order” following Sunday’s foiled coup attempt. The force comprises troops from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.
The failed takeover was launched by a group of soldiers identifying themselves as the Military Committee for Refoundation (MCR), led by Lieutenant Colonel Pascal Tigri. The group briefly appeared on Benin’s state television claiming to have overthrown President Patrice Talon.
Hours later, Interior Minister Alassane Seidou announced that loyalist forces had crushed the attempt, urging citizens to go about their normal business.
ECOWAS condemned the plot as a “subversion of the will of the people of Benin,” warning that leaders of the MCR would be held accountable for any loss of life or damage resulting from their actions.
African Union Commission Chairperson H.E. Mahmoud Ali Yousouf also expressed deep concern over the rising wave of coups across the continent, reiterating the AU’s zero-tolerance stance on unconstitutional changes of government.
The attempted putsch comes barely a week after soldiers seized power in Guinea-Bissau, the ninth African country to fall under military rule since the resurgence of coups in 2020.
