Three men in Benin, including a former minister and the man in charge of President Patrice Talon’s security, have been arrested on suspicion of plotting a coup, the state prosecutor has said.

Ex-sports minister Oswald Homeky was caught on Tuesday while handing over six bags of money to the head of the Republican Guard, Elonm Mario Metonou, the prosecutor told a press conference. Investigators said Col Djimon Dieudonne Tevoedjre was being bribed not to resist a coup d’etat planned for Friday.

Investigations are ongoing to identify further suspects, the prosecutor said.