Former presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore on Sunday suggested that President Patrice Talon of the Benin Republic may have been aware of the attempted coup and allowed events to unfold as part of a broader plan to clamp down on political opponents.
Sowore argued that Talon might have taken advantage of the foiled coup to intensify pressure on opposition groups in the country.
In a post on X, he maintained that coups are never an answer to political failure.
He wrote: “The situation in Benin raises equally troubling questions. There are strong indications that President @PatriceTalonPR, a deeply shady figure and a close ally of Nigeria’s @officialABAT, may have been aware of the coup plot, allowed it to unfold, and then used it as a political diversion to shift public attention away from his growing unpopularity and to help him clamp down on opposition figures as he’s always done.
“In this sense, instability becomes a calculated tool of political survival rather than an unforeseen threat to democracy.
“Of course, I am opposed to military rule in all its forms. I am allergic to it. Whether invited, staged, or exploited, coups are never a solution to political failure.
“The answer to bad civilian leadership is not guns, military jackboots, and camouflage, but accountability, popular struggle, and genuine democracy. #RevolutionNow”
Sowore also drew parallels between the events in Benin Republic and the situation in Guinea-Bissau.
He added: “The so-called coups in Guinea-Bissau and the latest episode in the Republic of Benin share disturbing similarities. In Guinea-Bissau, the phony coup unfolded after a criminal former president effectively invited the military to intervene to avoid announcing elections and relinquishing power to an opposition figure with a popular mandate.
“It was not a seizure of power to restore order, but a manipulation of force to escape democratic progress.”
