President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has commended the Nigerian military for its gallant and decisive response that helped crush an attempted coup in the Republic of Benin on Sunday morning, saving the country’s 35-year-old democracy from collapse.
In a statement issued Sunday evening by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, President Tinubu praised the armed forces for acting swiftly on two separate urgent requests from the Government of Benin to prevent coup plotters from overthrowing President Patrice Talon.
According to the statement, the Benin Republic, through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, first sent a Note Verbale requesting 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.”
Acting on President Tinubu’s direct orders, Nigerian Air Force fighter jets immediately entered Benin airspace, took control of the skies, and helped dislodge the coup plotters who had seized the National Television station and regrouped at a military camp.
A second request from Benin asked for the deployment of Nigerian Air Force assets for surveillance and rapid intervention under Benin-led coordination, as well as the deployment of 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, confirmed that all requests had been fully met, with Nigerian ground forces now on the ground in Benin.
“Ours is to comply with the order of the Commander-in-Chief of our armed forces, President Tinubu,” he stated.President Tinubu saluted the Nigerian armed forces for standing firm as protectors of democracy in the sub-region.
“Today, the Nigerian armed forces stood gallantly as defenders and protectors 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,” the statement read.
“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,” President Tinubu added.
Earlier on Sunday, a group of soldiers calling themselves the “Military Committee for Refoundation” (CMR) had stormed Benin’s state television and announced that they had removed President Patrice Talon from office.
However, the Benin government quickly declared the coup attempt thwarted, with a source close to President Talon confirming that the president was safe and that the plotters only briefly controlled the television station.
West Africa has witnessed a wave of military takeovers in recent years in countries including Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, and most recently Guinea-Bissau. President Talon, a 67-year-old businessman in his second and final term, is scheduled to hand over power in April 2026.