Heavy and light gunfire rocked central Cotonou on Saturday as soldiers loyal to Lieutenant Colonel Pascal Tigri seized the national television station and declared a coup against President Patrice Talon, who has led Benin since April 2016.
Calling themselves the Military Committee for Refoundation, the group announced on state TV that they had suspended the constitution, dissolved all national institutions and closed the country’s borders.
The broadcast followed a pre-dawn assault on Talon’s residence and clashes near a key military base.
A message from the French embassy in Benin said gunfire had been reported near the residence of the president in the main city of Cotonou, which is the seat of government.
The soldiers also announced a suspension of the constitution, the closure of all land borders as well as the country's airspace.
But officials close to the president say he is fine and that the small group of soldiers at the TV station did not have the backing of the regular army.
"The situation is under control. A large part of the army is still loyalist - and we are taking over the situation," Foreign Minister Shegun Adjadi Bakari told Reuters news agency.
An unnamed person in the presidency told the AFP news agency: "This is a small group of people who only control the television. The city and the country are completely secure."
Security sources said reinforcement units had moved toward the broadcaster as efforts to reclaim the facility intensified.
Benin, long regarded as one of West Africa’s steadier democracies, has faced increasing political tension in recent years.
Talon’s rule has drawn criticism for shrinking political space, restrictive electoral reforms and growing public discontent ahead of his expected exit in 2026.
The attempted takeover comes barely two weeks after a successful coup in Guinea-Bissau, adding Benin to a region already destabilised by successive military seizures of power in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and now Guinea-Bissau.
The French and Russian embassies have urged their citizens to stay indoors for their safety.
The US embassy said it was monitoring the situation and its advice was to stay away from Cotonou, especially the area around the presidential compound.
According to the statement read out by the soldiers, Lieutenant-Colonel Tigri Pascal will be leading a military transition council.
They justified their actions by criticising President Talon's management of the country.
Talon, 67, is due to step down next year after completing his second term in office, with elections scheduled for April.
A businessman known as the "king of cotton", he first came to power in an election in 2016. He promised not to seek a third term and has endorsed Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni as his successor.
Talon has been praised by supporters for overseeing economic development, but his government has also come in for criticism for suppressing dissenting voices.
In October the electoral commission barred the main opposition candidate from standing on the grounds that he did not have enough sponsors.