Activists on quelled Benin coup: Democracy only matters to African leaders when military threatens it, not when their actions are killing it

By Dayo Johnson, Regional Editor, South WestThe military struck in Nigeria’s West African neighbour, Benin, last Sunday with the coupists seizing the state television station in Cotonou and announcing the overthrow of President Patrice Talon’s administration. The coup was however thwarted as President Bola Tinubu deployed fighter jets and troops to quell the attempted coup. The Presidency described Tinubu’s intervention as “swift” and a demonstration