1977 Benin coup attempt

Failed overthrow of President Mathieu Kérékou by French-led mercenaries

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|

1977 Benin coup attempt

Part of Cold War in Africa
| Date| 17 January 1977

|

Location|

Cotonou, People's Republic of Benin

Result|

Beninese victory

* Coup attempt failed

Belligerents

People's Republic of Benin

* * *

Supported by
North Korea|

France (Covertly)

* Mercenaries
* Beninese political exiles

* * *

Supported by
Togo
Ivory Coast
Gabon
Morocco
Commanders and leaders
Mathieu Kérékou|  Bob Denard (WIA)
History of Benin

History of the Kingdom of Dahomey
Early history

* Great Ardra

c. 1100–1724

* Oyo Empire

c. 1300–1836

* Songhai Empire

c. 1464–1591

* Kingdom of Akwamu

c. 1480–1734

Atlantic slave trade

c. 1500–1800

* Dutch Slave Coast

c. 1660–1760

* Kingdom of Whydah

c. 1580–1728

Kingdom of Dahomey

c. 1600–1904

* Annual Customs

c. 1730–1904

Modern period

* First Franco-Dahomean War

1890

* Second Franco-Dahomean War

1892–1894

French Dahomey

1894–1958

* French West Africa

1895–1958

* Republic of Dahomey

1958–1975

* Soglo coup

1963

* Kérékou coup

1972

People's Republic of Benin

1975–1990

* Mercenary coup attempt

1977

* Republic of Benin

1990–present

* Category
* Commons
* Africa portal

* v
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The 1977 Benin coup d'état attempt, Opération Crevette or Operation Shrimp was a failed attempt by a team of French-led mercenaries to overthrow the government of the People's Republic of Benin which was led by Mathieu Kérékou whose communist party, the People's Revolutionary Party of Benin (PRPB), was the only allowed political party in the country. The coup took place on 17 January 1977 and included a failed invasion of the port city of Cotonou by mercenaries contracted by a group of exiled Beninese political rivals.[1]

Bob Denard was the leader of the mercenary group and although Jacques Foccart denied knowledge of the attempted coup after its failure, he did recognize that it had been backed-up by Gnassingbé Eyadéma (Togo), Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Ivory Coast), Omar Bongo (Gabon) and Hassan II (Morocco), all allies of France.[2]

The coup would be one of several against Kérékou who survived numerous attempts to oust him, including two coup attempts in 1988.[3]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Adesina, Olutayo (2005). "Benin, Republic of (Dahomey) Kérékou, Mathieu (1935–)". In Shillington, Kevin (ed.). Encyclopedia of African History. pp. 242+. ISBN 9781579582456.
2. ^ Bob Denard, chien de guerre Archived October 1, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, L'Humanité, 4 May 1999 (in French)
3. ^ "Benin profile – Timeline". BBC News. 4 June 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.

## Links

[edit]

* War is boring: In 1977, 80 Mercenaries Nearly Took Over Benin

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Coups in  Benin (formerly known as  Dahomey)

* 1963
* 1965
* 1967
* 1969
* 1972
* 1977 attempt

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Years in Benin

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Coups d'état in Africa since 1960

1960s|

* Republic of the Congo (1960)c
* Ethiopia (1960)
* Rwanda (1961)
* French Algeria (1961)
* Somalia (1961)
* Senegal (1962)
* Algeria (1962)c
* Dahomey (1963)c
* Togo (1963)c
* Gabon (1964)c
* Algeria (1965)c
* Dahomey (1965)
* Burundi (1965)
* Democratic Republic of the Congo (1965)
* Central African Republic (1965–66)c
* Burundi (July 1966)c
* Burundi (November 1966)c
* Ghana (1966)c
* Upper Volta (1966)c
* Nigeria (January 1966)c
* Nigeria (July 1966)c
* Republic of the Congo (1966)
* Dahomey (1967)
* Ghana (1967)
* Togo (1967)c
* Algeria (1967)
* Sierra Leone (1968)c
* Mali (1968)c
* Republic of the Congo (1968)c
* Dahomey (1969)
* Sudan (1969)c
* Libya (September 1969)c
* Somalia (1969)c
* Libya (December 1969)

1970s|

* Lesotho (1970)‡c
* Uganda (1971)c
* Morocco (1971)
* Sudan (1971)c
* Dahomey (1972)c
* Ghana (1972)c
* Morocco (1972)
* Republic of the Congo (1972)
* Rwanda (1973)c
* Upper Volta (1974)‡
* Uganda (1974)
* Niger (1974)c
* Ethiopia (1974)c
* Comoros (1975)c
* Sudan (1975)
* Libya (1975)
* Nigeria (1975)c
* Chad (1975)c
* Comoros (1976)c
* Burundi (1976)c
* Nigeria (1976)
* Sudan (1976)
* Benin (1977)
* Seychelles (1977)c
* Sudan (1977)
* Uganda (June 1977)
* Angola (1977)
* Somalia (1978)
* Comoros (1978)c
* Ghana (1978)‡c
* Mauritania (1978)c
* Mauritania (1979)c
* Ghana (1979)c
* Equatorial Guinea (1979)c
* Central African Republic (1979)c

1980s|

* Mauritania (1980)c
* Liberia (1980)c
* Guinea-Bissau (1980)c
* Upper Volta (1980)c
* Mauritania (1981)
* Gambia (1981)
* Central African Republic (1981)c
* Ghana (1981)c
* Seychelles (1981)
* Central African Republic (1982)
* Kenya (1982)
* Upper Volta (1982)c
* Upper Volta (February 1983)
* Upper Volta (August 1983)c
* Nigeria (1983)c
* Mauritania (1984)c
* Cameroon (1984)
* Guinea (1984)c
* Uganda (1985)c
* Nigeria (1985)c
* Sudan (1985)c
* Guinea (1985)
* Liberia (1985)
* Lesotho (1986)c
* Togo (1986)
* Burkina Faso (1987)c
* Burundi (1987)c
* Republic of the Congo (1987)
* Tunisia (1987)c
* Transkei (1987)c
* Benin (1988)
* São Tomé and Príncipe (1988)
* Burkina Faso (1989)
* Ethiopia (1989)
* Chad (1989)
* Sudan (1989)c

1990s|

* Sudan (1990)
* Nigeria (1990)
* Zambia (1990)
* Chad (1990)c
* Ciskei (1990)c
* Venda (1990)c
* Mali (1991)c
* Lesotho (1991)c
* Sudan (1992)
* Sierra Leone (1992)c
* Algeria (1992)c
* Sierra Leone (December 1992)
* Burundi (1993)
* Libya (1993)
* Nigeria (1993)c
* Bophuthatswana (1994)c
* Gambia (1994)c
* Lesotho (1994)‡c
* Liberia (1994)
* Comoros (1995)
* São Tomé and Príncipe (1995)
* Sierra Leone (1996)c
* Guinea (1996)
* Burundi (1996)c
* Niger (1996)c
* Sierra Leone (August 1996)
* Zambia (1997)
* Sierra Leone (1997)c
* Guinea-Bissau (1998)
* Republic of the Congo (1998)
* Niger (1999)c
* Côte d'Ivoire (1999)c

2000s|

* Côte d'Ivoire (2001)
* Burundi (2001)
* Central African Republic (2001)
* Côte d'Ivoire (2002)
* Central African Republic (2002)
* Central African Republic (2003)c
* Mauritania (2003)
* Guinea-Bissau (2003)c
* São Tomé and Príncipe (2003)
* Burkina Faso (2003)
* Chad (2004)
* Sudan (2004)
* Equatorial Guinea (2004)
* Democratic Republic of the Congo (2004)
* Togo (2005)c
* Mauritania (2005)c
* Chad (2006)
* Madagascar (2006)
* Guinea (2008)c
* Mauritania (2008)c
* Sudan (2008)
* Madagascar (2009)c

2010s|

* Madagascar (2010)
* Niger (2010)c
* Niger (2011)
* Guinea-Bissau (2011)
* Mali (March 2012)c
* Guinea-Bissau (2012)c
* Mali (April 2012)
* Sudan (2012)
* Eritrea (2013)
* Chad (2013)
* Egypt (2013)c
* Libya (October 2013)
* Central African Republic (2013)c
* Libya (2014)
* Lesotho (2014)
* The Gambia (2014)
* Burundi (2015)
* Burkina Faso (2015)
* Burkina Faso (2016)
* Libya (2016)
* Zimbabwe (2017)c
* Gabon (2019)
* Sudan (2019)c
* Ethiopia (2019)

2020s|

* Mali (2020)c
* Central African Republic (2021)
* Niger (2021)
* Mali (2021)c
* Tunisia (2021)‡c
* Guinea (2021)c
* Sudan (September 2021)
* Sudan (October 2021)c
* Burkina Faso (January 2022)c
* Guinea-Bissau (2022)
* Burkina Faso (September 2022)c
* São Tomé and Príncipe (2022)
* Gambia (2022)
* Sudan (2023)
* Niger (2023)c
* Gabon (2023)c
* Burkina Faso (2023)
* Sierra Leone (2023)
* Guinea-Bissau (2023)
* Nigeria (2024)
* Democratic Republic of the Congo (2024)

* c: successful coup
* ‡: self-coup
* no sign: attempted coup

*[WIA]: Wounded in action
*[c.]: circa
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