On the night of December 6-7, a group of African army officers who call themselves a “Military Committee for Refoundation (CMR)” came on TV announcing the capture of power in Benin. They were led by Pascal Tigri, the 38 years old commander of the Benin Special Forces since January 2024. However, a few hours later, the Nigerian army intervened by bombing the Benin mutineers to abort the coup and rescue the regime of Patrice Talon, the current local leadership of betrayal of Africa’s interests in Benin.
Why did the coup against Patrice Talon fail?
Patrice Talon is a petty-bourgeois businessman who won neocolonial power in 2016 when he defeated the leading French puppet at the time, Lionel Zinsou. The bourgeois media presented that victory as an example of the stable and solid traditional democracy in Africa.
The reality is that the electoral contest is between factions of the corrupted and unpatriotic African petty-bourgeoisie. That is why, regardless of who wins, it is always the African petty-bourgeoisie and the foreign interests that they represent who also win.
And it did not take long for African people in Benin to find out that Patrice Talon was just another regular and trusted collaborator of French imperialism.
The announcement by the French press, La Croix for example, that “French special forces intervened to foil the coup” does not come as a surprise.
The liberal neocolonialist magazine Jeune Afrique reported that French president Emmanuel Macron approached Nigerian president Bola Ahmed Tinubu to have the Nigerian army intervene in Benin. Macron also confirmed to Talon that the French troops stationed in Benin were put at the disposal of Talon to maintain the status quo.
The Nigerian army air strike was backed on the ground by the forces of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The ECOWAS standby force comprises troops from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. Their justification for their occupation of Benin was that they had “been deployed to support the government of Benin and preserve constitutional order.”
Talon’s reign ends in April 2026, and the constitution does not allow him to stand for another mandate. He has embarked on a process to ensure that the next president is one of his choosing. He has barred all serious candidates of the opposition from participating in presidential elections.
Benin is part of “the coup belt” in West Africa.
Starting in Mali on August 18, 2020, Assimi Goïta’s first coup removed Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta from power. On April 20, 2021, Mahamat Idriss Déby captured power, and his father, president Idris Déby, was killed in the process.
Assimi Goïta launched his second successful coup in Mali on May 24, 2021. In September 2021, Mamady Doumbouya, a member of the infamous French legionnaire, captured power in Guinea.
On October 25, 2021 in Sudan, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan overthrew the transitional government. In Burkina Faso on January 24, 2022, lieutenant colonel Paul-Henri Damiba seized power before himself being overthrown on September 30, 2022 by captain Ibrahim Traoré.
In Niger, on July 26 2023, president Mohamed Bazoum is overthrown by general Abdourahamane Tchiani. In Gabon, on August 30, 2023, president Ali Bongo Ondimba was ousted by general Brice Oligui Nguema.
On October 12, 2025 in Madagascar, colonel Michael Randrianirina overthrew the government of Andry Rajoelina. This came after weeks of mass youth protest against the rise of the cost of electricity before expanding to wide political demand for the resignation of president Andry Rajoelina.
In Guinea Bissau, on November 26, 2025, President Umaro Sissoco Embaló was overthrown by the Head of the Military Office of the Presidency brigadier general Dinis Incanha.
Africa Report’s summation of Benin coup
A December 11 article in The African Report reports that the mutineers stated that the reason they seized power was “multiple excesses of the Patrice Talon government, [including] the continuous degradation of the security situation in northern Benin and the ignorance and negligence of the situation of brothers in arms fallen at the front, and especially that of their families abandoned to their sad fate.” The same magazine adds that they also denounced the banning of key opposition leaders from taking part in the coming presidential elections next year in April 2026.
The hypocrites are saying that they were surprised by coup leader Pascal Tigri who they call an unassuming and discrete kind of guy. The most important anticolonial political phenomenon in West Africa are, on the one hand, the emergence of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) with Assimi Goïta, Ibrahim Traoré and Abdourahamane Tchiani; and on the other hand, the emergence of Jihadist terrorists with the abilities to seize vast swathes of lands and destabilize existing neocolonial States. Benin has also become the theatre of Jihadists terrorist attacks.
The African anticolonial sentiments have identified French imperialists as the enemy of African people, particularly in West Africa. The statement put out on December 8 by Pascal Tigri’s organization testifies to it: “The Military Committee for Refoundation (CMR) informs national and international public opinion that the operations to dislodge the French prefect continued relentlessly throughout the night. Lost and deprived of strategic intelligence, the French armed forces proceeded to carry out a blind bombardment on a residential area, causing the tragic death of 74 innocent civilians in their sleep. Unlike the manipulations spread by certain compliant media outlets, the Presidential Palace is under our effective control. As for Mr. Patrice Talon, he has withdrawn and taken refuge within the French embassy. Furthermore, three infiltrated elements or saboteurs have been captured and are currently in custody for exploitation. The CMR remains determined to restore the sovereignty of the Beninese people and invites the population to remain calm. Victory is on the march.”
Benin’s coup is more significant because it happens at the doorstep of Niger, a member of the AES countries that kicked France out. Any unfavorable outcome for France in the region is welcome by AES States and most of the African patriots in the regions.
Under Talon’s regime, Benin is one of the countries used to economically strangle Niger and militarily threaten Niger with invasion by the negative forces of ECOWAS.
The constitution is used to protect the colonial order
For the African petty bourgeoisie in general, the constitution is a referential document about what each faction should or should not do in their active service of the colonial mode of production.
It recognizes the right of the African petty bourgeoisie to be leaders of black people, but does not recognize the right of workers to lead black people.
What kind of constitution allows the colonial French army to be stationed in Benin, Ivory Coast and other places in Africa?
Ultimately, the African workers must take power in our own hands, and laws and constitutions must be created to serve the interests of the people.
Organize workers in the West Africa region for power in our own hands!
Build the African Socialist International!
