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ABUJA, NIGERIA – President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has commended the gallantry and professionalism of Nigeria’s Armed Forces for their swift response to an urgent request by the Government of Benin Republic to protect its 35-year-old democracy from coup plotters who struck at dawn on Sunday.
According to a release e-signed and made available to the media by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President, (Information and Strategy), following two separate appeals from the Beninese government, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu directed the Nigerian Air Force to deploy fighter jets into Benin Republic to take control of the country’s airspace and assist in dislodging the coup plotters.
The military operation reportedly targeted key locations seized by the insurgents, including the National Television station and a military camp where the plotters had regrouped, thereby restoring control and helping to stabilize the democratic government.
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.”
In the second request, the authorities in Benin requested the deployment of Nigerian Air Force assets within Beninoise airspace for surveillance and rapid intervention operations under Benin-led coordination.
The Benin government also requested Nigerian 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.”
Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede, said all the requests have been fulfilled, with Nigerian ground forces now in Benin.
“Ours is to comply with the order of the Commander-in-Chief of our armed forces, President Tinubu,” he said.
Constitutional order was upended in the Republic of Benin, Nigeria’s neighbour, when some soldiers led by Colonel Pascal Tigri announced a coup on Sunday morning. The putschists seized the National TV and claimed they had toppled President Patrice Talon and suspended all democratic institutions.
It took some hours before the government’s loyal forces, assisted by Nigeria, took control and flushed out the coup plotters from the National TV.
In his remarks after the restoration of the democratic and constitutional order, President Tinubu saluted the Nigerian armed forces for standing firm as a protector and defender of democracy.
“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.”
