Attempted Coup d'Etat in Benin

 On the night of 6 to 7 December, forces loyal to Beninese President Patrice Talon, aided by the Nigerian military aviation, managed to regain control of the national television, from where putschist soldiers had broadcast a recorded message from Lieutenant-Colonel Pascal Tigri announcing the dismissal of the President of the Republic and the establishment of the Military Committee for Refoundation (CMR). Meanwhile, fighting was taking place between the putschists and the guards of several military leaders and the presidency of the Benin Republic.

Kemi Seba, a black supremacist and radical pan-Africanist, special adviser to the Nigerien president and candidate for the presidency of Benin, released a video rejoicing at the fall of "President Patrice Talon’s clan of economic predators".

Chief of staff of the Beninese army General Fructueux Gbaguidi, who was in Paris for a business trip when the coup attempt began, remotely piloted his troops, including the Republican Guard commanded by Colonel Djimon Dieudonné Tévoédjrè. President Talon was able to speak by phone with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron.

A twin-engine Beechcraft 350 registered F-GYEE, of the company CAE aviation, specialized in surveillance missions "for various governmental and non-governmental organizations", in this case chartered by France, flew over Cotonou, assisting the loyalist armed forces.

At the request of Benin’s president Patrice Talon, Nigerian military drones carried out precision strikes on the Togbin camp, where some of the mutineers had taken refuge after fleeing the premises of the national radio and television station.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has announced the "immediate deployment" of its Standby Force, composed for this operation of troops from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana to support "the government and the republican army" of Benin and "preserve constitutional order".

This is the editorial from our paywalled "Voltaire, international newsletter", n°155. For more information, do not hesitate to subscribe: 500€ per year.

Translation
Gregor Fröhlich

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(Source: voltairenet.org; December 13, 2025; https://v.gd/p78XRa)
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