President Bola Tinubu has confirmed and commended the Nigerian Armed Forces for their quick military intervention in the Benin Republic, which helped Benin forces successfully suppress an attempted coup against President Patrice Talon on Sunday.
The Presidency revealed that the intervention, which included the deployment of air and ground assets, was executed following two urgent and formal requests for military assistance from the Beninese government. President Tinubu, who was formally the Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), stated that the action was consistent with the bloc’ Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance.
The statement, issued by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, expanded on the involvement of Nigeria in putting down the coup staged by unpatriotic soldiers led by Colonel Pascal Tigri.
According to reports, the government of Benin initially requested air support to dislodge the mutineers who had seized the National Television station and regrouped at a military camp. President Tinubu responded by ordering Nigerian Air Force fighter jets to enter Beninese airspace to neutralize the threat from the air.
Benin followed up with a request for Nigerian surveillance aircraft and the deployment of ground forces. These ground troops were to be deployed strictly for missions approved by the Beninese Command authority to protect constitutional institutions.
The Chief of Defence Staff of Nigeria, General Olufemi Oluyede, confirmed that all requests had been fulfilled, and that Nigerian troops were on ground in Benin, acting under the order of the Commander-in-Chief.
President Tinubu lauded the Nigerian military for acting as a defender of constitutional order in the West African region.
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… They have helped stabilise a neighbouring country and have made us proud of their commitment to sustaining our democratic values and ideals since 1999 – President Tinubu
The Beninese government later announced that the coup attempt was successfully suppressed, and control was restored, after the joint intervention from external military forces and the Beninese military forces.
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