Former Beninese president Thomas Boni Yayi has strongly denounced Sunday’s failed coup attempt, issuing a firm condemnation in a video posted on Facebook. Boni Yayi, who led Benin from 2006 to 2016 and once chaired the African Union, criticized the attempted overthrow of President Patrice Talon as a “bloody and shameful attack” on the nation.
The coup attempt unfolded on Sunday when a group of soldiers announced on national television that they had removed Talon from power. Authorities, with military assistance from several West African countries, quickly crushed the attempt.
Boni Yayi stressed that power must only change hands through democratic means.
“The transfer of state power responds to a single cardinal and unconditional principle: that of the ballot box, that of the people, that of free and transparent elections,” he said.
His opposition party, The Democrats, was barred from participating in next year’s presidential election after the electoral commission rejected its candidate, Renaud Agbodjo, for not securing enough sponsorships.
The failed coup — one of many in a region plagued by political upheaval over the past five years — resulted in several deaths and the arrest of at least a dozen plotters. President Talon, who succeeded Boni Yayi, is preparing to step down after April’s election, having completed the two-term limit. Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni is expected to contest the election against opposition candidate Paul Hounkpe, an academic and former minister.
ECOWAS Sounds Alarm Over Regional Instability
Military support from Nigeria and other countries helped prevent Benin from joining the growing list of West African nations that have experienced coups, including Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, and most recently Guinea-Bissau.
Omar Alieu Touray, President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, warned on Tuesday that elections have become “a major trigger of instability” in the region. He also cited a “growing erosion of electoral inclusivity across multiple states,” exacerbated by recurring military interventions.
Touray said ECOWAS must also redefine its security cooperation with the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) — Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso — particularly as extremist violence continues to spread across their borders into countries like Benin and Togo.
“Our community is in a state of emergency,” he declared.
The AES countries, all governed by military juntas, have withdrawn from ECOWAS and formed their own alliance, even as jihadist attacks continue to destabilize the region.
