Benin Republic Places 30 Soldiers In Pre-Trial Detention After Foiled Coup
Benin Republic has placed approximately 30 individuals, mostly soldiers, in pre-trial detention following a failed coup attempt on December 7, 2025, according to legal sources cited by multiple news outlets including AFP and local media.
The suspects appeared before Benin’s Court for the Repression of Economic Crimes and Terrorism (CRIET) on December 15 and were formally detained on December 16 on charges including treason and threats to state security.
The coup attempt began early on December 7 when a group of soldiers, led by Lieutenant Colonel Pascal Tigri, stormed the state television station in Cotonou.
They broadcast a statement declaring the dissolution of the government, the suspension of the constitution, and the removal of President Patrice Talon from office.
Lieutenant Colonel Pascal Tigri, the alleged leader of the coup attempt, who remains at large.
The mutineers cited grievances including insecurity in northern Benin due to jihadist threats and alleged neglect of soldiers and their families.
However, loyalist forces quickly regained control. Benin requested and received military assistance from neighboring Nigeria, whose air force conducted operations to support government troops.
France provided intelligence and logistical aid.
By midday on December 7, Interior Minister Alassane Seidou announced that the attempt had been thwarted.
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President Talon addressed the nation that evening, praising loyal forces and vowing that the “treachery will not go unpunished.”
President Patrice Talon of Benin, who condemned the coup attempt and confirmed government control.
Initial arrests numbered around 14, but investigations led to further detentions.
Tigri and several accomplices are still fugitives, with reports indicating Tigri may have fled to neighboring Togo.
The African Union, ECOWAS, and the United Nations condemned the attempt.
ECOWAS deployed a standby force from several member states to support Benin.
The incident marks a rare challenge to stability in Benin, long seen as one of West Africa’s more democratic nations, amid a wave of coups in the region in recent years.
