Soldiers appeared on Benin’s state television to announce they had removed President Patrice Talon from power, declaring the dissolution of political parties and the closure of the country’s borders.
The group, calling itself the Military Committee for Refoundation, made the announcement in a brief televised statement. Talon’s office later said the president was safe and that loyalist forces were moving to restore control.
Talon, 67, first took office in 2016 and won re-election in 2021. He is due to leave office next year at the end of his second and final term under the constitution.
Guinea-Bissau coup: Army installs general as transitional president
