Benin state prosecutor says arrests made over suspected coup plot

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Benin state prosecutor says arrests made over suspected coup plot

10:09 CAT | 25 Sep 2024

Benin’s state prosecutor said on Wednesday a former sports minister and a prominent businessman have been detained on suspicion of plotting a coup.

Ex-sports minister Oswald Homeky was caught after 1 a.m. on Tuesday while handing over six bags of cash to the head of the republican guard, who is also in charge of President Patrice Talon’s security.

Investigators said they found that Homeky and Beninese businessman Olivier Boko had paid off the military commander to not resist a coup d’etat planned for Sept. 27.

Boko and the commander were also detained and investigations are ongoing to identify other suspects, prosecutor Elon’m Mario Metonou said in a statement.

There have been eight military takeovers and several other coup attempts since 2020 in West and Central Africa, a region that had made strides to shed its reputation as a “coup belt” only for persistent insecurity and corruption to reopen the door to actions by military leaders.

Au 🇧🇯#Bénin, le gouvernement a annoncé ce mercredi 25 septembre l’arrestation de l’ancien ministre des Sports Oswald Homéky, et d’Olivier Boko, un proche du chef de l’État. Selon les premiers éléments de l’enquête, les deux personnalités sont soupçonnées en effet de préparer un… pic.twitter.com/0vVFWyu2Aj

— #AFRICA24 (@AFRICA24TV) September 25, 2024

#Bénin🇧🇯🔥🅾️⛔️

Lors du point de presse tenu ce mercredi 25 septembre 2024, le Procureur spécial de la CRIET, Mario Mètonou, a révélé les premiers éléments de preuve concernant une tentative de coup d’État planifiée par Oswald Homeky, ancien ministre des Sports, et Olivier Boko,… pic.twitter.com/KmLkiRFDIO

— Descendants de Thomas Sankara ✊🏿🇧🇫 (@L_Activiste226) September 25, 2024

Benin’s Special Prosecutor has accused former minister Oswald Homeky and businessman Olivier Boko of plotting a coup for September 27, 2024. They allegedly offered 1.5 billion CFA francs and a bank account to bribe the Republican Guard’s commander. pic.twitter.com/JOS7KImxZ8

— West Africa Democracy Radio (@WadrNews) September 25, 2024

Source: Reuters