Deborah Akinyosoye
President Bola Tinubu on Sunday commended the Nigerian Armed Forces for their swift intervention in Benin Republic following an attempted military coup in the neighbouring country.
Tinubu’s reaction came after loyalist forces in Benin, supported by Nigerian troops and air assets, dislodged soldiers who seized the country’s national television station early Sunday and claimed to have toppled President Patrice Talon.
A statement signed by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the Government of Benin formally requested Nigeria’s military assistance in two separate communications after coup plotters led by Col. Pascal Tigri announced the suspension of democratic institutions.
According to the statement, Tinubu, acting on the request, ordered Nigerian Air Force fighter jets to take control of Benin’s airspace and assist in flushing out the mutineers from strategic locations, including the national broadcaster and a military camp.
Benin also asked for the deployment of Nigerian surveillance aircraft and ground forces “strictly for missions approved by the Beninese Command authority in support of the protection of constitutional institutions and the containment of armed Groups.”
The statement noted that Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede, confirmed that all requests were carried out and that Nigerian troops were already on the ground in Benin.
“Ours is to comply with the order of the Commander-in-Chief of our armed forces, President Tinubu,” he was quoted as saying.
Tinubu, who also chairs ECOWAS, said the intervention was in line with the bloc’s Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance.
“Today, the Nigerian armed forces stood gallantly as a defender and protector of constitutional order in the Republic of Benin on the invitation of the government. Our armed forces acted within the ambit of the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance.
“They have helped stabilise a neighbouring country and have made us proud of their commitment to sustaining our democratic values and ideals since 1999. Nigeria stands firmly with the government and people of the Republic of Benin,” the President said.
Benin’s government later announced that the coup attempt had been suppressed and control restored.