Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
President Bola Tinubu has commended Nigerian troops for their swift intervention in helping to thwart an attempted military coup in neighbouring Benin Republic.
Loyalist forces in Benin, with support from Nigerian troops and air assets, dislodged soldiers who had seized the country’s national television station early Sunday and announced the removal of President Patrice Talon.
In a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, President Tinubu said the Government of Benin formally requested Nigeria’s military assistance in two separate communications after the coup plotters, led by Col. Pascal Tigri, declared the suspension of democratic institutions.
According to the statement, Tinubu, responding to the request, ordered Nigerian Air Force fighter jets to secure Benin’s airspace and assist in flushing out the mutineers from key locations, including the national broadcaster and a military camp.
Benin also sought 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 added that Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede, confirmed full compliance with the directives and revealed 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, stated that the intervention aligned 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 that constitutional order had been restored.
