On Tuesday, 17 January 2023, we met with Patriarch Karim Urbain da SILVA, Chairman of the Porto Novo Collective of Executives and Elders who gave us the honor to respond to our questions regarding the January 16, 1977 mercenary attack on the Benin Republic.
The Cotonou Times: On Sunday, 16 January 1977, around seven 7:00am , hundreds of mercenaries armed to teeth, headed by Bob Denard, perpretator of multiple coups d’état in Africa landed with a DC7 aircraft on Cotonou International Airport runway . Do you remember that day?
Patriarch Karim Urbain da SILVA: The day before I was in Paris, and I was informed by my friends and my contacts within French Intelligence services of what was going to take place the following day. I decided to take a flight that goes to Nigeria and I landed in Lagos. I went straight to our Embassy in order to meet the Benin Ambassador to Nigeria who was Eustache Prudencio. I asked him to warn President Kerekou about what was going to happen the following day. He immediately took his vehicle and travelled to Benin. As far as I am concerned, I went to meet my friend MD Yusuf
The Cotonou Times: MD Yusuf was a Nigerian official?
Patriarch Karim Urbain da SILVA: Yes, he was a Nigerian security official. I informed him of what was going to take place. Following discussions , the Nigerian authorities made the decision to protect the Benin coastline and I came back to Benin on Sunday. The shouting , the people running in all directions was impressive.
The Cotonou Times: How do you explain that Robert Denard also known as Bob Denard, the French Privateer of the French Republic, who had almost never failed in his multiple regime change operations, was unsuccessful in Benin?
Patriarch Karim Urbain da SILVA: He first failed because President Kerekou had foreknowledge of the coup and had taken some initial steps. The mercenaries ignored that and they were also faced to North Korean soldiers who curbed the attack. The mercenaries were so “accurate “that they hit the bed of the Head of State within the Presidential Palace, which was quite surprising. The mercenaries had planned the attack with traitors who provided them with intelligence, despite the fact that Kerekou was not sleeping in the Presidential Palace. Everybody thought that Kerekou had been killed until he made a speech on State radio. Benin soldiers then started to fight back. The mercenaries had infiltrated the city center , others were inside the Cotonou military barrack and according to their plan, they were expecting help from some local military officials who did not respond to their calls. One must also point to the fact that the aircraft transporting them came late. They were scheduled to land at night and they eventually arrived at 7:00am in the morning
The Cotonou Times: How do you explain this delay?
Patriarch Karim Urbain da SILVA : We heard that their plane had mechanical issues when it departed from North Africa , it had an oil leak and they had to fix the problem. They were asked by their sponsors to postpone the operation, but they finally decided to carry it out. However the mercenaries remained “on alert” as the pilot did not switch off the plane’s engine. The fact that they came late and that they did not observe the expected rallying of some military units,made them doubt. The Benin soldiers managed to arrest one mercenary of Guinean nationality and the attack was finally foiled as it was supposed to be carried out at night.
The Cotonou Times: What was the atmosphere in the country in the days, weeks and months following the attack?
Patriarch Karim Urbain da SILVA: In their stampede, the mercenaries forgot their suitcase and as everybody was running for their lives,. They had placed a military vehicle in front of the pilot to ensure that he would not take off and flee.They managed to stop a tank of the Benin army who was heading towards the plane . But many weapons, documents and money were found in the suitcases. Two days after, the people of Cotonou heard a big noise and thought that there was another attack and started to run everywhere and this outbreak of panic which started in Cotonou quickly reached Port Novo.
The Cotonou Times: How you explain the longevity of Kerekou’s rule(17 years) as a Military Head of State?
Patriarch Karim Urbain da SILVA: Kerekou benefitted from our support. Many of us took the decision to carry out a regime change in 1972. The erstwhile Dahomey Minister of Finance had become an obligee of one of the Government’s contractors. Everybody was aware and upset of this situation.This minister was doing favors for this contractor for the procurements such as over invoicing , in order for the minister to pay the personal loan that had been granted to him by this contractor. This is what triggered our reaction will led to our rebellion and the overthrown of the Dahomey Government and the arrival of Kerekou in 1972. A meeting was organized in my house in attendance of Alphonse Haley, Head of the Military, the former Guinean Ambassador to Dahomey(Lamine Kourouma) , Kerekou and others which paved the way to the toppling of the Government on 26 October 1972.
The Cotonou Times: Which books do your recommend to those who want to have detailed information on the events of 16 January 1977?
Patriarch Karim Urbain da SILVA: You know that I am a publisher. Please note that all the documents and information collected by the Government were compiled in a “white paper”. My services were requested and I contributed to the publishing of this white paper titled “The Imperialist Aggression Against the Benin Republic of Sunday, 16 January 1977. Everything is there with all the evidences from the mercenaries.
