2 associates of Benin’s president sentenced to 20 years in prison for planning coup

Two men close to the president of Benin were sentenced to 20 years in prison for planning to remove him from power. Olivier Boko, a businessman and friend of President Patrice Talon, and Oswald Homeky, a former sports minister, were found guilty of trying to bribe the president's security chief to help with the coup. Homeky was caught giving six bags of money to the security chief, who later reported the plan.  

Boko, who is seen as the president's close ally, was accused of being the main planner of the plot. He was arrested separately and had shown interest in running for president in 2026. Another man involved, Rock Nieri, was found guilty but escaped and was not at the trial. The court also fined the three men and ordered them to pay $95 million in damages to the country.  

Benin is known as one of Africa's more stable democracies, but critics say President Talon uses the courts to target his opponents. Talon, who became president in 2016, promised not to run for a third term when his second term ends in 2026. The men's lawyers left the court before the decision, saying the court was unfair.