The Chief of Army Staff and the Chief of the National Guard of the Benin Republic, who were taken hostage during Sunday’s failed coup attempt, have been released, according to a security analyst.
Brant Philip, in a statement posted on 𝕏 (formerly Twitter) on Monday, confirmed their freedom.
“The Beninese Chief of Army Staff and the Chief of Staff of the National Guard have been freed after they were taken hostage by the mutineers during the coup yesterday,” Philip wrote.
The military officers were among the top officials detained during the brief but tense uprising led by Lieutenant Colonel Pascal Tigri in the capital, Cotonou.
Their release came shortly before President Patrice Talon addressed the nation in a televised broadcast, declaring that the government had regained full control of the situation.
Mutinous soldiers briefly held Talon himself along with several senior security officials before loyal forces intervened.
Sunday’s incident adds to a growing list of coups and attempted takeovers across West Africa, with recent examples in Niger, Burkina Faso, and Guinea-Bissau, raising regional and international concerns over political stability.
President Talon praised the swift response of loyalist forces and regional partners in helping to foil the attempt to upend Benin’s democratic order.
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