A COUP that was announced in Benin today has been “foiled,” the interior minister said in a social media video.

Alassane Seidou said: “In the early morning of Sunday December 7 2025, a small group of soldiers launched a mutiny with the aim of destabilising the state and its institutions.

“Faced with this situation, the Beninese Armed Forces and their leadership, true to their oath, remained committed to the republic.”

Earlier, a group of soldiers had appeared on Benin television to announce the dissolution of the government in an apparent coup.

The group, which called itself the Military Committee for Refoundation, announced the removal of the president and all state institutions. Lieutenant Colonel 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.

There has been no official news about President Patrice Talon since gunshots were heard around the presidential residence. The signal to state television and public radio was cut off after the military announcement.

President Talon had been in power since 2016 and was due to step down next April after the presidential election.

In January, two associates of President Talon were sentenced to 20 years in prison for an alleged 2024 coup plot.