BREAKING: Benin Republic Thwarts Coup Attempt, Ex-Minister and Commander of Guard Arrested

Benin President Patrice Talon’s government says it has foiled a coup d’etat planned for Sept. 27 and arrested a former sports minister and a prominent businessman suspected of plotting the coup.

Ex-sports minister Oswald Homeky was caught after 1 a.m. on Tuesday handing over six bags of cash to the head of the republican guard, Elonm Mario Metonou, who is also in charge of President Patrice Talon’s security.

Talon’s government says it found that Homeky and Beninese businessman Olivier Boko, a friend of President Talon, had paid off the military commander to not resist a coup d’etat planned for Sept. 27.

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Boko and the commander have also been detained and investigations are ongoing to identify other suspects.

President Talon has already announced that he would not be seeking a third term in office in the 2026 elections.

There have been eight military takeovers and several other coup attempts since 2020 in West and Central Africa, a region that had made strides to shed its reputation as a “coup belt” only for persistent insecurity and corruption to reopen the door to actions by military leaders.

Source: Reuters