Nigeria’s Senate has approved the deployment of troops on a peace mission to Benin after an attempted coup in the neighboring West African country prompted the government to seek external security assistance.
In a letter read by Senate President Godswill Akpabio at a plenary session on Tuesday, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu asked lawmakers to authorize the deployment in response to Benin’s request for “exceptional and immediate provision of air support” following an “attempted unconstitutional seizure of power.”
Tinubu said Africa’s most populous nation had a duty to act “expeditiously” to provide assistance “considering the close ties of brotherhood and friendship” and the principles of collective security upheld within regional bloc ECOWAS.
Senators voted unanimously in favor of the request. Akpabio hailed the decision as a necessary measure to defend regional stability, citing fears that unrest in Benin could spill over into Nigeria. The two countries share a border of about 773km (480 miles).
On Monday, Benin’s government announced that Nigerian fighter jets had carried out airstrikes that helped foil a bid by a group of soldiers to seize power and capture President Patrice Talon on Sunday. The mutinous soldiers briefly took over national television and declared that they had ousted Talon and suspended the constitution.
Authorities in the former French colony said the plotters initially targeted senior army officials, including the president’s military chief of staff, and succeeded in kidnapping two others who were released on Monday morning. The soldiers clashed with the Republican Guard as they attempted to storm Talon’s residence, resulting in casualties on “both sides,” a detailed government report said.
The Beninese government said Nigeria’s air force intervened and targeted armored vehicles used by the mutineers, helping loyal troops to neutralize the threat.
Several people have been arrested, while Colonel Pascal Tigri, the officer named as leader of the short-lived military government, has been declared wanted.
Speaking at a security meeting in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, on Tuesday, ECOWAS Commission President Omar Alieu Touray said the West African region is in a “state of emergency” due to crises including coups and the “growing reach of terrorist groups.”