Tension escalated in the Benin Republic on Sunday, December 7, 2025, after a Military group announced a takeover.
The Military group announced the takeover while appearing on state television early Sunday.
The soldiers announced that they had seized power and dissolved all state institutions in what appears to be a coup d’état.
The group, calling itself the Military Committee for Refoundation, claimed to have removed President Patrice Talon from office.
In their televised address, the soldiers, led by Lieutenant-Colonel Pascal Tigri, announced the closure of all national borders and the suspension of political parties.
Lt. Col. Tigri was also named the president of the new military committee.
Gunshots were reportedly heard around the presidential residence in Cotonou, and the broadcast signal for state television and public radio was cut shortly after the military’s announcement.
The French Embassy said on X that “gunfire was reported at Camp Guezo” near the president’s official residence in the economic capital.
It urged French citizens to remain indoors for security.
The development comes months before President Talon was due to step down in April 2026 after serving two terms.
However, the Presidency has moved swiftly to deny the claim, insisting there is no coup in Benin and that loyalist forces are already regaining control.
The country’s Presidency stated that “Everything is fine,” without elaborating.
The President’s office also informed news agencies that President Talon is safe and that the army is actively regaining control.
According to the presidency, the takeover was the act of a “small group of people who only control the television,” and stressed that the regular army was consolidating power, claiming that there was no coup in Benin.
“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 the press.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports that the military group announced the takeover following two coups in Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau in as many months. Benin is bordered in the north by Niger and Burkina Faso, which have also seen military takeovers.
Benin’s political history has been marked by several coups and attempted coups.
Talon, who came to power in 2016, is due to reach the end of his second term in 2026, the maximum allowed by the constitution.
The main opposition party has been excluded from the race to succeed him, and instead, the ruling party will vie for power against a so-called “moderate” opposition.
Talon, a 67-year-old former businessman dubbed the “cotton king” of Cotonou, has been praised for bringing economic development to Benin but is regularly accused by his critics of authoritarianism.
