ECOWAS Orders Immediate Deployment of Reserve Forces to Benin

Overview

• ECOWAS said its chair ordered elements of the bloc’s reserve forces to deploy to Benin with immediate effect, according to a statement on its website.
• Benin’s interior minister said security forces restored order and urged a return to normal, as local media reported the Republican Guard retook state TV and detained suspects.
• Soldiers had briefly seized the national broadcaster to declare President Patrice Talon removed, naming Lt. Col. Pascal Tigri to lead a self-styled restoration committee.
• AFP, citing an unnamed government source, reported Nigerian air force strikes inside Benin, a claim that has not been widely corroborated.
• The African Union and ECOWAS condemned the attempted takeover, and AFP separately reported that Talon and his family are safe.