A senior Beninese government official says the leader of Sunday’s failed coup attempt has fled to neighbouring Togo, where authorities believe he is hiding in the capital, Lomé.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the BBC that Lt. Col. Pascal Tigri is in the same district where President Faure Gnassingbé resides. Benin plans to formally request his extradition. Togo’s government has not commented, and the claim has not been independently verified.
The coup attempt was thwarted after Nigeria deployed fighter jets at the request of President Patrice Talon, dislodging mutinous soldiers from a military base and state television offices. A group of soldiers had briefly appeared on state TV to announce they had seized power, and gunfire was reported near the presidential residence.
Benin’s republican guard commander, Dieudonne Djimon Tevoedjre, said French special forces later assisted loyalist troops in “mopping up operations” after the army had repelled the mutineers. Government spokesman Wilfried Léandre Houngbédji, however, said France mainly provided intelligence support and could not confirm the deployment of troops.
The West African bloc ECOWAS condemned the coup attempt and has since deployed forces from Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast to secure key installations in Benin. Nigeria described the mutiny as a “direct assault on democracy.”
Houngbédji said the plot was carried out by a small group of soldiers from the National Guard, a recently created unit meant to bolster counterterrorism efforts. He added that Talon requested targeted airstrikes after intelligence suggested the mutineers planned to attack Cotonou’s airport.
The rebel soldiers accused Talon of mismanaging the country, citing deteriorating security in northern Benin, where jihadist groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State have staged attacks. They also criticized cuts to health care, tax increases, and restrictions on political activity.
Talon, a cotton magnate who came to power in 2016, is serving his second and final term. Elections are scheduled for April, and he has endorsed Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni as his successor. His government has been praised for economic reforms but criticized for curbing opposition, including barring the main opposition candidate from the upcoming vote.
The attempted takeover comes amid a wave of coups across West Africa, including in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali and Niger. Guinea-Bissau’s president was ousted just over a week earlier, though some regional figures have questioned whether that event was staged.
Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have since quit ECOWAS to form the Alliance of Sahel States, deepening ties with Russia. Pro-Russian social media accounts hailed the failed coup in Benin, according to the BBC.
