Two men close to Benin's president jailed after alleged coup plot

Olivier Boko, a businessman and longtime friend of President Patrice Talon, and Oswald Homeky, a former sports minister, have been accused of soliciting the commander in charge of the president's security to carry out a coup in the small West African nation.

The pair had engaged Djimon Dieudonne Tevoedjre, the Republican Guard commander, "to carry out a coup by force" on Friday last week, according to Elonm Mario Metonou, the special prosecutor at Benin's court for financial crimes and terrorism.

The two men "were both placed in pre-trial detention", their attorney Ayodele Ahounou told AFP on Tuesday.

"They will be sent to Cotonou prison", in the country's economic capital, pending their trial, he added.

The court said Homeky was detained at around 1:00 am on September 24 as he was handing over six bags of cash totalling 1.5 billion West African CFA francs ($2.5 million) to Tevoedjre.

Boko, often presented as Talon's "right-hand man", was arrested separately in Cotonou, the court said.

Boko had recently begun indicating that he would make a run for the presidency in 2026 when Talon's second term in office ends and he is prohibited by the constitution from running again.

In 2023, Homeky resigned as sports minister after urging support for Boko's bid to succeed Talon.

Tevoedjre was also arrested last week, but has since been released with the charges against him dropped.

Boko and Homeky were charged with corruption of a public official, money laundering and conspiracy against the authority of the state, according to judicial sources.

Three others have been charged in the case, one of whom was also put in custody and two of whom were released.

Once seen as a thriving multi-party democracy, Benin has become increasingly authoritarian since Talon came to power in 2016, critics say.

In August, an online critic of the president, Steve Amoussou, was detained and ordered to stand trial later this year on allegations of publishing falsehoods and "inciting rebellion", judicial sources told AFP.