UPDATE - Benin government forces respond to coup attempt, minister says situation ‘under control’: Report

UPDATES WITH RESPONSE TO COUP ATTEMPT, FINANCE MINISTER’S REMARKS; CHANGES HEAD, DECK, LEDE

By Mevlut Ozkan

ISTANBUL (AA) - Benin’s security forces are responding to a coup attempt, with the situation “under control,” Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni told the news outlet Jeune Afrique on Sunday.

“We are clearing things out, but it is not over. We are safe,” Wadagni said, while the coup plotters held out in their positions.

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 “Military Committee for Refoundation.”

The soldiers announced the suspension of the constitution and the dissolution of all institutions and political parties, saying they would close Benin’s borders.

The French Embassy in Benin also said in a statement that gunfire was reported at Camp Guezo, near the presidential residence.

The embassy urged its citizens to remain at home until further notice as a security measure, “while the situation is fully clarified.”

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.