Soldiers in the West African nation of Benin have announced on national TV that they have ousted President Patrice Talon and seized power.
According to the BBC, a message from the French embassy in Benin said gunfire had been reported near the residence of the president in the main city of Cotonou.
However, by Sunday afternoon, Benin’s interior minister, Alassane Seidou, said in a statement that the West African country’s armed forces had thwarted an attempted coup.
Before the official announcement by the minister, the soldiers had also suspended the constitution, closed all land borders as well as the country’s airspace.
During this time, officials close to the president said he is fine and that the small group of soldiers at the TV station did not have the backing of the regular army.
”The situation is under control. A large part of the army is still loyalist – and we are taking over the situation,” Foreign Minister Shegun Adjadi Bakari told Reuters news agency.
An unnamed person in the presidency told the AFP news agency: “This is a small group of people who only control the television. The city and the country are completely secure.”
According to the statement read out by the soldiers, Lieutenant-Colonel Tigri Pascal will be leading a military transition council.
They justified their actions by criticising President Talon’s management of the country.
Talon, 67, is due to step down next year after completing his second term in office, with elections scheduled for April.
A businessman known as the “king of cotton”, he first came to power in an election in 2016. He had promised not to seek a third term and had already named a successor.
The French Embassy has urged its citizens to stay indoors for their safety.
Benin has been regarded as one of Africa’s more stable democracies. It is the continent’s largest cotton producers, but ranks among the world’s poorest countries.
