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Benin Foils Coup Bid, Launches Manhunt for Fugitive Officer

Regional support helped restore control, with arrests underway and two senior officers released.

Overview

  • Lt. Col. Pascal Tigri, named by mutineers as their leader, remains on the run as authorities pursue remaining plotters.
  • Benin reports around a dozen arrests after loyalist forces retook key sites and restored state TV and radio broadcasts.
  • Two high-ranking officers taken hostage, Chief of Army Staff Abou Issa and Colonel Faizou Gomina, were freed early Monday, military sources said.
  • Nigeria provided air and ground support at Benin’s request, and ECOWAS said it had deployed a standby force to help preserve constitutional order.
  • Cotonou returned to relative calm under a heavy security presence, with authorities acknowledging casualties and an ECOWAS meeting initially planned for Monday later canceled.