Dare Babalola
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has commended Nigeria’s Armed Forces for their swift and decisive action in helping to quell a coup attempt in the Republic of Benin, a neighbouring West African nation, on Sunday.
The drama unfolded at dawn when a group of soldiers, led by Colonel Pascal Tigri, seized Benin’s National TV station, announcing the overthrow of President Patrice Talon’s government and suspending all democratic institutions.
In response to urgent requests from Benin’s authorities, President Tinubu ordered Nigerian Air Force fighter jets to take control of the airspace, dislodging the coup plotters from the TV station and a military camp where they had regrouped.
“The Republic of Benin, through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a Note Verbal, requested immediate Nigerian air support ‘in view of the urgency and seriousness of the situation and to safeguard the constitutional order, protect national institutions and ensure the security of the population,'” according to a Statehouse press release signs by presidential aide Bayo Onanuga on Sunday.
Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede, confirmed that Nigerian ground forces had also been deployed in Benin for missions approved by Benin’s command authority, aimed at protecting constitutional institutions and containing the armed groups.
“Ours is to comply with the order of the Commander-in-Chief of our armed forces, President Tinubu,” he said.
He noted that government loyalists, backed by Nigerian forces, regained control of the National TV station, flushing out the coup plotters and restoring order within hours. In his remarks afterward, President Tinubu praised the Nigerian military for standing “gallantly as a defender and protector of constitutional order in the Republic of Benin on the invitation of the government.”
Tinubu emphasised that Nigeria’s actions aligned with 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,” he said.
