Former presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and publisher, Dele Momodu, says a last-minute disruption to his planned road trip to Cotonou may have saved him from being caught in the failed coup attempt in the Benin Republic.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday, Momodu explained that he was originally scheduled to be in Benin Republic at the exact time the coup scare was unfolding. He said the unexpected setback that delayed his planned 5 a.m. departure “was what saved us.”
Describing the experience as surreal, Momodu said he had already mapped out a familiar route for the trip. “I was going to wake up at 5 a.m. to head straight to Cotonou, have a quick breakfast, then head to Lome, and from Lome to Ghana. I have done that trip many times, especially on Sundays because there’s usually no traffic,” he said.
Trouble, however, started the night before the journey when he discovered that his driver had only a photocopy of the vehicle particulars. The missing original document triggered a frantic late-night search.
“Unfortunately, the night before, I asked my driver for the vehicle particulars and he only had the photocopy. I wasn’t comfortable with that. I searched everywhere, my two offices in Lagos. Around 11 p.m., I realised the trip had to be cancelled,” he said.
Momodu said he immediately called his travel partners to inform them the journey would no longer proceed. “I called my friend Rotimi, whom we were travelling with, and another friend. I told everyone in the middle of the night that we would not be able to make the trip. And that was what saved us,” he said.
Linking the episode to his faith, Momodu said he believes divine intervention kept him out of danger. “I was born in an Aladura church. I believe in spirituality, and I believe God must have intervened because we would have been right inside Benin Republic at the time this melodrama was unfolding,” he said. He added that his Nigerian-registered vehicle could have made him particularly conspicuous during the unrest.
Momodu welcomed the news that the coup was foiled, recalling his long history of resisting military rule. He also drew parallels with his dramatic escape from Nigeria in 1995. “When I escaped from Nigeria on July 25, 1995, I fled through the Seme border into Cotonou, from where I travelled to Lome and then crossed the Aflao border into Ghana before heading to England, where I lived for the next three years,” he said.
He said the failed coup attempt stirred painful memories and raised concerns about the state of democracy in Africa. “I thought democracy had taken root in Africa, but it seems we are going backwards, which is very unfortunate. Let’s thank God it was quickly aborted,” he added.
Benin’s government announced on Sunday that it had thwarted an attempted coup after a group of soldiers appeared on state television claiming to have ousted President Patrice Talon.
West Africa has recorded multiple coups in recent years, including in neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso, as well as Mali, Guinea, and, most recently, Guinea-Bissau.
