Benin’s interior minister, Alassane Seidou, on Sunday said that the Army had thwarted an attempted coup by a group of soldiers who said they had ousted President Patrice Talon.
“A small group of soldiers launched a mutiny with the aim of destabilising the country and its institutions.
“Faced with this situation, the Beninese Armed Forces and their leadership maintained control of the situation and foiled the attempt,” said Seidou.
Military personnel in Benin had earlier announced that they had ousted Talon, although his entourage said he was safe and the army was regaining control.
Soldiers calling themselves the “Military Committee for Refoundation” (CMR), said on state television that they had met and decided that “Mr Patrice Talon is removed from office as president of the republic”.
But Talon’s entourage said Talon, who has been president of the West African nation for 10 years and is due to step down in April, was safe.
“This is a small group of people who only control the television. The regular army is regaining control. The city and the country are completely secure,” his office told AFP.
Talon has been credited with reviving economic growth, but the country has also seen an increasing number of attacks by Jihadist militants that have wreaked havoc in Mali and Burkina Faso.
In April, Benin’s government said that 54 soldiers were killed in an attack in the north by an affiliate of Al Qaeda.
Last month, Benin adopted a new constitution that extended the presidential mandate from five to seven years, in what critics said was a power grab by the ruling coalition, who nominated Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni to be its candidate.
The opposition Democrats party, founded by Talon’s predecessor, Thomas Boni Yayi, saw its proposed candidate rejected because of what a court ruled was insufficient backing from lawmakers.