Police and soldiers on Thursday clashed with protesters who were expressing their dissatisfaction over the recent elections in the country. The security operatives applied force to disrupt the protest to prevent it from spread to other parts of the country. However, the protesters resisted the violent approach of the Police and army, insisting on proceeding with their protest.
Apparently, the police and army in the early hours of Thursday encountered a tense standoff with protesters in Benin Republic after violence broke out on agitation of the controversial parliamentary elections held without a single opposition candidate.
It was indicated that hours after initial results showed a record low turnout in Sunday’s election, soldiers and large numbers of police were deployed on Wednesday across Cotonou in readiness for violent outbreak.
Supporters of former President Boni Yayi, were said to have led calls for a boycott of the election, and on Wednesday took to the streets to lead the mass protest of the perceived illegalities in the election.
They were said to have erected makeshift barriers of burning tyres, and chanting slogans against President Patrice Talon.
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The protestors also torched businesses, hurled stones, and smashed the windows of government buildings. While the Police fired tear gas to disperse crowd. They had remained adamant and defied the Police and army intimidation to continue their protests overnight and remained on the streets into Thursday.
“Nobody has slept,” said one demonstrator on Thursday morning, who was said to have identified himself as Justin B.
“Around 10 pm, they cut the light and fired live ammunition,” he claimed, pointing to two empty bullet casings and bloodstains on the floor. “Two people were seriously injured, a man and a woman,” he narrated.
In the Cadjehoun district of Cotonou, where Yayi Boni’s house is, a resident also reported to have heard shots fired.
“We do not know at all what will happen now, but we feel that it is bad,” one woman had said; adding that it still felt safe enough for children to go to school on Thursday.
Benin Republic in the West African sub-region was upheld as a model for democracy. The current situation was said to have been generating warnings from civil society and rights groups within and outside Benin Republic.
There were indications that tough new eligibility criteria effectively barred opposition political parties from fielding candidates in last Sunday’s parliamentary elections. It was also narrated that over two thirds of the country’s five million registered voters boycotted the elections and stayed at home.
It was decried that turnout has never dropped below 50 per cent since the country’s transition to democracy in 1990.