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4 of 4 events · 1972 – 2021

The Story of

Benin

1972 – 2021

Sovereign state in West Africa

  1. 1972 Dahomeyan coup d'état

    26 October 1972

    The 1972 Dahomeyan coup d'état was a military coup staged on 26 October 1972 by Major (later General) Mathieu Kérékou, who took control of the Republic of Dahomey and ended a system of government established following the annulled 1970 presidential election, in which three members of the Presidential Council (Hubert Maga, Justin Ahomadégbé-Tomêtin and Sourou-Migan Apithy) were to rotate in power. Ahomadégbé-Tomêtin served as the Chairman at the time of the coup.

  2. UTAGE Flight 141

    25 December 2003

    UTA Flight 141 was a scheduled international passenger flight operated by Guinean regional airline Union des Transports Africains de Guinée (UTA), flying from Conakry to Dubai with stopovers in Benin, Libya and Lebanon. On Christmas Day 2003, the Boeing 727–223 operating the flight struck a building and crashed into the Bight of Benin while rolling for take off from Cotonou, killing 141 people.

  3. 2008 Benin floods

    October 2008

    The 2008 Benin floods struck the nation of Benin between July and October 2008, and affected the other West African nations of Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Togo. According to the Red Cross of Benin, the flooding in Benin initially affected almost 7,000 people, including the displacement of 1,560 children.

  4. Jihadist insurgency in Benin

    18 November 2021

    An ongoing armed conflict in Benin is being waged by Islamist insurgent groups, primarily the al-Qaeda-affiliate Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and to a lesser extent the Islamic State's Sahel Province (ISSP) and Islamic State (IS)-aligned Lakurawa. The insurgency began in late 2021 with low-level attacks near the Nigerien and Burkinabe borders, but escalated in 2022 after the Beninese government launched heavy counterattacks.