Nigeria Approves Troop Deployment to Benin
During a plenary session on Tuesday, Senate President Godswill Akpabio read a letter from Nigerian President Bola Tinubu in which he sought lawmakers’ approval for the deployment.
The request came in response to Benin’s plea for “exceptional and immediate provision of air support” following an “attempted unconstitutional seizure of power.”
President Tinubu emphasized that Africa’s most populous country had an obligation to respond “expeditiously” due to the “close ties of brotherhood and friendship” with Benin and in line with the collective security principles upheld by the regional organization ECOWAS.
The Senate voted unanimously to approve the proposal.
Akpabio described the decision as an essential step to safeguard regional stability, expressing concern that unrest in Benin could spill over into Nigeria. The two nations share a border spanning approximately 773km (480 miles).
On Monday, Benin’s authorities revealed that Nigerian fighter jets had conducted airstrikes that helped thwart a plot by certain soldiers to seize power and capture President Patrice Talon on Sunday.
The mutineers briefly took control of national television and declared that they had deposed Talon and suspended the constitution.
Officials from the former French colony reported that the insurgents initially targeted high-ranking military officials, including the president’s chief of staff, and managed to abduct two others who were released on Monday morning.
The rebels engaged in clashes with the Republican Guard while trying to storm Talon’s residence, resulting in casualties on “both sides,” according to a detailed government account.
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