1977 Benin coup attempt | |||||||
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History of Benin |
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History of the Kingdom of Dahomey |
Early history |
c. 1300–1836 c. 1464–1591 c. 1480–1734
Atlantic slave trade
c. 1500–1800
c. 1580–1728
Kingdom of Dahomey
c. 1600–1904
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Modern period |
1892–1894
French Dahomey
1894–1958
Republic of Dahomey
1958–1975
1972
People's Republic of Benin
1975–1990 1990–present |
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The 1977 Benin coup d'état attempt, Opération CrevetteorOperation 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]