France assisted Benin’s authorities in preventing a coup attempt over the weekend, according to an assistant to President Emmanuel Macron, disclosing a French involvement in a regional initiative that thwarted the most recent effort to execute a putsch in West Africa.
Macron initiated a “coordination effort” by conversing with prominent regional leaders, as reported by an adviser who requested anonymity, two days following the unsuccessful coup attempt on Sunday.
France, at the behest of the Beninese government, provided assistance in surveillance, observation, and logistical support to the Benin armed forces, the aide stated.
Additional information regarding the nature of the support was not readily accessible.
On Sunday, a contingent of soldiers seized control of Benin’s national television station and declared the deposition of President Patrice Talon.
However, loyalist military forces ultimately quelled the attempted coup with assistance from neighboring Nigeria, which conducted airstrikes on Cotonou and deployed ground troops.
West Africa has had a series of coups in recent years that have significantly diminished French influence and presence in its former colonies.
Mali had coups in 2020 and 2021, succeeded by Burkina Faso in 2022 and Niger in 2023. French forces engaged in an anti-jihadist campaign in these nations were subsequently compelled to withdraw.
A successful coup in Benin, another former French colony, would have been perceived as a significant setback for Paris and Macron’s influence in the area.
Guinea-Bissau, a former Portuguese territory, saw a coup in November following elections, resulting in military forces assuming control.
Generated Significant Alarm
On Sunday, Macron conversed with Talon and the leaders of Nigeria and Sierra Leone, the latter presiding over the West African regional organization ECOWAS, according to an Elysee aide.
The source stated that the situation in Benin “raised significant concern for President Macron, who unequivocally condemned this failed attempt at destabilization.”
ECOWAS has announced the deployment of troops from Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone to Benin to assist the government in maintaining constitutional order.
“Our community is experiencing a state of emergency,” stated Omar Alieu Touray, president of the Economic society of West African States (ECOWAS), on Tuesday, emphasizing the Islamist threat and the prevalence of coups in the region.
The group had threatened intervention during Niger’s 2023 coup that ousted President Mohamed Bazoum—an ally of Macron—but finally refrained from taking action.
France likewise refrained from intervening in the Niger coup.
“France has extended its comprehensive political support to ECOWAS, which undertook a substantial initiative this weekend,” stated the aide.
According to loyalist military sources, at least twelve conspirators were apprehended, and all hostages, including senior officers, were released by Monday.
Talon made a broadcast appearance late Sunday, assuring the nation that the issue was “entirely under control.”
Talon, 67, is set to relinquish power in April after serving the maximum permitted two terms as the leader of Benin, a nation that has recently seen Islamist unrest in the north.
Former Beninese president Thomas Boni Yayi, whose opposition Democrats party has been barred from the next presidential elections, denounced the unsuccessful attempt today.
Boni Yayi, a former chairman of the African Union and president of Benin from 2006 to 2016, stated, “I vehemently and unequivocally condemn this brutal and disgraceful assault on our nation.”
Boni Yayi stated in a Facebook video that the transfer of state power adheres to a singular, fundamental, and unconditional principle: that of the ballot box, the populace, and free and transparent elections.
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