The military announced this Sunday, December 7, that they had dismissed Patrice Talon from his position as President of the Republic. They cite, as reasons, the “deterioration of the security situation in the north of the country”, the “attribution of public contracts without transparency”, the “vote of crisogenic laws”, the “total exclusion of (political) actors having ideas considered contrary to the governance of Mr. Patrice Talon”, and the deterioration of the living conditions of the military and teachers, among others.
Led by the Military Committee for Refoundation, a newly created body, this coup puts Benin in a situation of uncertainty, a few months before the presidential elections. It is chaired by Lieutenant-Colonel Pascal Tigri.
The body suspends the newly adopted constitution last November, announces the closure of borders until further notice, and declares that the army is taking charge.
“As for the valiant populations, the army invites them to freely go about their business in peace and tranquility. To the international community, the Military Committee for Refoundation reassures that Benin’s international commitments as well as human rights will be respected,” specifies the horde of soldiers whose images are playing in a loop on national television while we put this content online.
We will come back to this.
At 9:30 a.m., the situation was confused. Sources announce that the loyalist army is holding the residence of the head of state. The putschists would be surrounded in the television enclosure.
