Overview
- Soldiers styling themselves the Military Committee for Refoundation briefly seized state television in Cotonou and declared President Patrice Talon removed.
- Authorities said loyalist forces retook key sites, with roughly a dozen soldiers arrested and the president reported unharmed.
- ECOWAS announced an immediate deployment from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana to help preserve constitutional order.
- Nigeria said it carried out airstrikes in Cotonou to clear mutineers from the broadcaster and deployed troops at Benin’s request, according to official statements cited in press reports.
- Foreign missions urged caution after gunfire was reported near Camp Guezo, and the failed bid spotlighted tensions before the April 2026 election and grievances voiced by the putschists.