{"id":240,"date":"2025-12-08T03:36:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T03:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/?p=240"},"modified":"2026-02-02T11:12:44","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T11:12:44","slug":"benins-interior-minister-says-coup-attempt-foiled-urges-public-to-continue-daily-activities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/08\/benins-interior-minister-says-coup-attempt-foiled-urges-public-to-continue-daily-activities\/","title":{"rendered":"Benin&#8217;s interior minister says coup attempt foiled, urges public to continue daily activities"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Group of soldiers claims to have ousted President Patrice Talon, naming Lt. Col. Pascal Tigri head of so-called Military Committee for Refoundation <\/p><\/div>\n\n\n<p>A coup attempt by \u201ca small group of soldiers\u201d has been foiled, Beninese Interior Minister Alassane Seidou said on Sunday on national television, urging citizens to carry on with their daily activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said the Beninese Armed Forces and their leadership, \u201cfaithful to their oath,\u201d remained loyal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTheir response made it possible to keep control of the situation and to thwart the maneuver,\u201d Seidou added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Earlier, Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni told the news outlet Jeune Afrique that the situation was \u201cunder control.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe are clearing things out, but it is not over. We are safe,\u201d Wadagni said, while the coup plotters held out in their positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A group of Beninese soldiers told the state broadcaster on Sunday that they had removed President Patrice Talon from power and appointed Lt. Col. Pascal Tigri to lead a newly formed \u201cMilitary Committee for Refoundation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The soldiers announced the suspension of the constitution and the dissolution of all institutions and political parties, saying they would close Benin\u2019s borders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The US Embassy said in a statement that it was monitoring reports of gunfire in the city of Cotonou and \u201cunconfirmed reports\u201d of a military coup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It urged people to avoid Cotonou and areas near the presidential compound, monitor local media, and steer clear of crowds and demonstrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, Russia&#8217;s Embassy, in a Telegram statement, recommended its citizens in the country to &#8220;remain at home and observe basic precautions&#8221; until the situation in Cotonou becomes clearer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The French Embassy in Benin also said in a statement that gunfire was reported at Camp Guezo, near the presidential residence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The embassy urged its citizens to remain at home until further notice as a security measure, \u201cwhile the situation is fully clarified.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Talon, a former businessman, has served as the president of the West African nation since 2016 and was re-elected to a second term in 2021.<em>&#8211; Anadulo Agency<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><em>Group of soldiers claims to have ousted President Patrice Talon, naming Lt. Col. Pascal Tigri head of so-called Military Committee for Refoundation<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":241,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-240","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-africa"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":242,"href":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240\/revisions\/242"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olivenewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}