Posts falsely claim video shows protesters demanding Benin president resign over Niger crisis
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on September 20, 2023 at 12:25
- Updated on September 20, 2023 at 16:33
- 4 min read
- By Théo MARIE-COURTOIS
- Translation and adaptation Erin FLANAGAN
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“This morning, our brothers and sisters in Benin needed to rise up and protest the puppet of France…Benin was going to allow France to use their country as a rear base to attack Niger,” reads part of a post published on X, formerly Twitter, on September 15, 2023.
Liked more than 1,200 times, the 30-second clip shows a crowd chanting “Talon, step down” in French.
Talon’s supporters say he has ushered in political and economic development since his election in 2016, but critics argue that his mandate has eroded democracy.
The clip circulated widely in Nigeria, much like other false claims generated by recent coups in west Africa.
Similar claims also circulated in other posts on X.
Niger coup
On July 26, 2023, Niger’s presidential guard staged a coup, ousting Mohamed Bazoum, the country’s democratically elected president (archived here).
Relations between Niger and France, the country’s former colonial power, went swiftly downhill after Paris stood by Bazoum (archived here).
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which includes Benin, has threatened to intervene militarily if diplomatic pressure to return Bazoum to office fails.
On September 10, 2023, Niger’s new regime accused France of staging troops in neighbouring countries, including Benin, as part of a plan to intervene in Niger (archived here).
The coup leaders then announced they would end a military deal with Benin, accusing the country of authorising the “deployment of soldiers, mercenaries, and war materials” that could threaten Niger (archived here).
The French army is holding talks with Niger’s military over withdrawing “elements” of its presence there, a defence ministry source said on September 5, 2023 (archived here).
But Paris has not responded to the accusation of deploying troops to Benin with a view to “military intervention” in Niger (archived here).
However, the claim that the video shows Beninese protesters demanding Talon’s resignation over recent events is misleading.
Old video
Using a keyword search for “Talon resignation” in French, AFP Fact Check found several social media posts published in 2019 featuring the same video.
The footage was posted following protests that rocked Cotonou after the country’s April 2019 legislative elections (archived here).
Benin, often hailed as a bastion of democracy in west Africa, was widely criticised for holding elections without a single opposition candidate on the ballot (archived here).
Violence broke out between the protesters and law enforcement, particularly around the house of former president Thomas Boni Yayi in the Cadjehoun district.
Ahead of the 2019 elections, Boni Yayi had led calls for a boycott of the ballot.
He then denounced an “electoral coup” following the April polls, calling for the results to be annulled and for the people to rise up (archived here).
At least one person was killed in the protests (archived here).
Image comparison
AFP Fact Check found images from the 2019 protests around Boni Yayi’s home by searching AFP’s photo archives.
Two distinct buildings are visible in the AFP photos: a bright yellow, single-storey building and a second, much larger brick building with long, white columns on its front that towers over the other buildings on the street.
The same buildings are also visible in the video shared in the misleading post on X.
The yellow building is seen from 0’17’’ to 0’19’’, and the brick building appears several times between 0’08’’ and 0’21’’.
In the AFP photos, the brick building has the same facade as the one in the X post.
According to local AFP correspondents, there have been no recent protests or gatherings of this magnitude in Cotonou.
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