Benin’s authorities on Saturday placed former
defence minister and prominent opposition figure, Candide Azannai, in pre-trial
detention as part of an ongoing investigation into the country’s failed
coup attempt in early December.
According to an AFP journalist, Azannai was
charged with plotting against the state and incitement to rebellion. He
was arrested last week at his political party’s headquarters in Cotonou,
days after the attempted military takeover.
Azannai, who has publicly condemned the coup, becomes
the most high-profile civilian figure detained since the foiled uprising. His
detention follows the jailing of about 30 suspects—mostly soldiers—on
treason charges earlier in the week.
On December 7, mutinous soldiers appeared on
national television claiming they had overthrown President Patrice Talon.
However, loyalist forces quickly regained control, defeating the coup plotters
with support from the Nigerian Air Force.
The failed takeover reportedly left several people
dead, while some suspects remain at large, including the alleged leader of
the coup, Lieutenant-Colonel Pascal Tigri.
After several hours of questioning at Benin’s anti-terrorism
court, Azannai was escorted by police in the early hours of Saturday and
taken into custody, AFP reporters confirmed.
President Talon has been credited with driving
economic growth since assuming office, but critics accuse his administration of
gradual authoritarianism, eroding democratic freedoms in a country once
regarded as a model democracy in West Africa. In recent years, Benin has also
faced rising jihadist violence in its northern regions.
President Talon is expected to step down in April,
having reached the constitutional two-term limit.
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