Soldiers announce apparent military coup in Benin

A group of soldiers has appeared on Benin’s state TV announcing the dissolution of the government in an apparent coup, the latest of many in West Africa. The group, which called itself the Military Committee for Refoundation, on Sunday announced the removal of the president and all state institutions. Lt. Col. Pascal Tigri has been appointed president of the military committee, the soldiers said. Following its independence from France in 1960, the West African nation witnessed multiple coups, especially in the decades following its independence. Since 1991, the country has been politically stable following the two-decade rule of Mathieu Kerekou, a Marxist-Leninist who renamed the country the People’s Republic of Benin. President Patrice Talon had been in power since 2016 and was due to step down next April after the presidential election. Talon’s party pick, former Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni, was the favourite to win the election. Opposition candidate Renaud Agbodjo was rejected by the electoral commission on the grounds that he did not have sufficient sponsors. Last month, the country’s legislature extended the presidential term of office from five to seven years, keeping the term limit at two. The coup is the latest in a string of military takeovers that have rocked West Africa. Last week, a military coup in Guinea-Bissau removed former President Umaro Embalo after a contested election in which both he and the opposition candidate declared themselves winners. @@@