Dele Momodu says cancelled trip saved him agony of being caught in Benin botched coup

Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday, Momodu explained that he was scheduled to be in Benin at the exact time the coup scare unfolded. He said the setback that prevented his 5:00 a.m. departure “was what saved us.”

Momodu described the experience as surreal, noting that he had already mapped out his usual travel route through Cotonou to Lome and onward to Ghana. Trouble began the night before the journey when he discovered his driver only had a photocopy of the vehicle particulars, prompting a frantic search that ultimately led to the cancellation of the trip.

“I called my travel partners in the middle of the night to cancel, and that was what saved us,” he said.

Linking the incident to his faith, Momodu said he believed divine intervention kept him from being inside Benin during the unrest. He added that his Nigerian-registered vehicle could have made him easily noticeable.

The publisher welcomed news that the coup was foiled, recalling his history of resisting military rule and drawing parallels to his 1995 escape from Nigeria through the Seme border into Cotonou, before eventually settling in England for three years.

Reflecting on the failed coup, Momodu said it revived painful memories and raised concerns about democracy in Africa.

“I thought democracy had taken root in Africa, but it seems we are going backwards. Let’s thank God it was quickly aborted,” he remarked.

Benin’s government announced on Sunday that it had thwarted an attempted coup after soldiers declared on state television that they had ousted President Patrice Talon. The incident adds to a string of coups in West Africa in recent years, including in Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, and Guinea-Bissau.