Troopers announce obvious navy coup in Benin

[ad_1] COTONOU, Benin (AP) — A gaggle of troopers has appeared on Benin ’s state TV saying the dissolution of the federal government in an obvious coup, the most recent of many in West Africa.

The group, which known as itself the Navy Committee for Refoundation, on Sunday introduced the removing of the president and all state establishments.

Lt. Col. Pascal Tigri has been appointed president of the navy committee, the troopers mentioned.

Following its independence from France in 1960, the West African nation witnessed a number of coups, particularly within the a long time following its independence. Since 1991, the nation has been politically steady following the two-decade rule of Mathieu Kérékou, a Marxist-Leninist who renamed the nation the Folks’s Republic of Benin.

President Patrice Talon had been in energy since 2016 and was because of step down subsequent April after the presidential election.

Talon’s social gathering decide, former Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni, was the favourite to win the election. Opposition candidate Renaud Agbodjo was rejected by the electoral fee on the grounds that he didn't have ample sponsors.

Final month, the nation’s legislature extended the presidential term of office from 5 to seven years, holding the time period restrict at two.

The coup is the most recent in a string of navy takeovers which have rocked West Africa. Final week, a military coup in Guinea-Bissau eliminated former President Umaro Embalo after a contested election by which each he and the opposition candidate declared themselves winners.

——

Adetayo reported from Lagos, Nigeria

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