ECOWAS orders troop deployment to Benin after failed coup attempt
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has ordered the deployment of a regional standby force to Benin following an attempted military coup, the bloc said on Sunday.
According to an ECOWAS statement, the force will include troops from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast and Ghana, and is intended to help Benin’s government and military preserve constitutional order and territorial integrity.
Nigeria has already begun providing military support. President Bola Tinubu’s spokesperson Bayo Onanuga said Nigerian Air Force fighter jets were deployed after two formal requests from Benin. The first request asked for urgent air support to dislodge coup plotters from the national television station and a military camp, while the second requested surveillance and rapid-response operations coordinated by Benin’s command.
Benin also requested Nigerian ground troops, but only for missions approved by the Beninese military command, to help protect state institutions and contain armed groups.
Earlier, a group of soldiers appeared on state television claiming they had removed President Patrice Talon from power and appointed Lt. Col. Pascal Tigri as head of a “Military Committee for Refoundation.”
However, Interior Minister Alassane Seidou later said the coup attempt by “a small group of soldiers” had been foiled, and urged citizens to resume normal life. President Patrice Talon also addressed the nation, saying the situation was “totally under control.”
The unrest comes shortly after a military coup in Guinea-Bissau in late November, which led to the installation of Gen. Horta Inta-A as transitional president.