Benin government: Coup attempt left dead and we have received support from Nigeria
The Beninese government announced that several people in the country, including the wife of the head of the president’s military office, were killed during the coup attempt against the Patrice Talon regime last Sunday, without providing further details.
Cabinet Secretary-General Eduard Owen Oro said after an extraordinary cabinet meeting on Monday evening that violent clashes broke out between the Republican Guard and the perpetrators of the coup attempt in front of the president’s residence on Sunday morning, resulting in “human casualties on both sides.
He explained that the perpetrators of the coup attempt planned to remove the president of the republic, take control of the republic’s institutions, and challenge the existing regime, which is preparing to organize presidential elections next April.
The Beninese government said it had received aid from Nigeria to thwart the coup attempt, and later announced the arrival of Nigerian and Ivorian troops to support the country’s army.
Authorities have arrested some of the coup plotters, while others are still on the run, noting that two officers who were kidnapped during the coup attempt were released on Monday.
Patrice Tallon, a former businessman nicknamed “The King of Cotton”, has been the presidency of Benin since 2016 and has announced on several occasions that he won’t run for a third term, in deference to the requirements of the constitution, which stipulates a maximum of two presidential terms.
