Attempted coup in Benin: two high-ranking officers held by mutineers have been released
Senior army officers were taken hostage by mutineers who attempted on Sunday, December 7, to challenge the Republic’s institutions.
Colonel Faïzou Gomina
According to sources close to the armed forces, the Chief of Staff of the Army, General Issa Abou, as well as the commander of the National Guard, Colonel Gomina, taken by the mutineers, were freed early on Monday.
The incident occurred in the midst of an especially tense day. A group of dissident soldiers had stormed the national television at dawn, announcing the end of President Patrice Talon’s regime and the establishment of a Military Committee for Refoundation.
The country then found itself facing one of the most serious threats to its institutions in several years, in a context where national stability had been seen as assured.
The release of the two senior officers followed a crackdown launched by the regular forces and the coordinated response of the military hierarchy that remained loyal, which quickly regained control of the territory’s strategic points.
The ongoing investigation should make it possible to understand how a core group of soldiers was able to organize this mutiny, identify its sponsors and determine the true extent of the network.
The government, for its part, is expected to communicate in the coming hours about the judicial and disciplinary actions awaiting the perpetrators of the insurrection.