EDITORIAL: Benin: Arresting the contagion of coups in West Africa

A foiled coup d’état in Benin Republic on 7 December has re-ignited the growing concern about democratic retreat in West Africa. The country’s president, Patrice Talon, survived by a whisker, following a swift military response from the presidential guard and Nigeria. Commendably, President Bola Tinubu acted expeditiously to ensure that its democracy was not subverted, and thereby add to the infamous list of nations where soldiers have successfully usurped power, in the last five years.

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Acting on a distress call from Mr Talon, whose presidential mansion in Cotonou had been surrounded and assailed by a fusillade of bullets, Mr Tinubu dispatched Nigeria’s fighter jets for aerial assault and troops for ground operations. They joined forces with loyal Beninese officers to overpower the mutinous soldiers led by Lieutenant Colonel Paschal Tigri, and brought the situation under control. Nigeria didn’t act alone, Cote d’Ivoire and France lent their support as well, with the latter understandably providing logistics and intelligence, which it shared with Nigeria.

Unable to subdue the presidential guards, to either arrest or kill Mr Talon, the putschists left the presidential mansion and took over a state-owned television station, where they announced their purported takeover of power. They could not hold on to the location for long, as Nigeria began to exert its military power, both in the air and on ground.

The resurgence of military adventurism in power within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has been a matter of deep concern to its leaders since 18 August, 2020, when the military ousted President Ibrahim Keita from office in Mali. Burkina Faso fell in 2022 and the Republic of Niger followed suit in July 2023. Thereafter, it was the turn of Guinea, and the takeover of Guinea-Bissau occurred barely three weeks ago. The mutineers all had their way due to the weakness of ECOWAS – a regional body unable to rediscover its power and essence, which it once deployed instabilising Liberia, Sierra Leone and Cote d’Ivoire some years ago.

Unfortunately, the coup in Burkina Faso resulted in the coalition of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger into a newer regional entity – the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). This effectively severed their membership of ECOWAS. However, the troika is still being engaged diplomatically for a possible return to the fold. After a painstaking review of its state of affairs, the chairman of ECOWAS, Omar Touray, did not mince words in saying that the region is under a state of emergency, during the 55th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Mediation and Security Council (MSC) in Abuja recently.

As a matter of fact, member-states should have cause for concern as terrorism, banditry, the abuse of democratic values, and other indices of the failure of governance provide propitious grounds for the military to strike. These challenges should be faced squarely. In the Benin case, the coupists cited the insecurity in the Northern part of the country – where jihadists attacked soldiers in January and April, and in the process killed 54 officers – as one of the reasons for their action. However, no reason really justifies their incursion into the political arena.

Mr Touray’s wise counsel should be taken seriously, as stated that, “Events of the last few weeks have shown the imperative of serious introspection on the future of our democracy and the need to invest in the security of our community.” Democracy cannot take root in an atmosphere of the subversion of its ethos. The Beninois opposition candidate from the political party that a former President, Boni Yayi, formed, was banned for the April 2026 presidential election. This is in addition to an amendment of the country’s five-year presidential tenure to seven years, which the opposition regards as manipulative or tendentious.

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A similar anti-democratic exclusion of opponents played out in Guinea-Bissau, and presaged the outcome of the disputed presidential election. Ousted President Umaro Embalo had since 2023 dissolved the country’s parliament, due to its dominance by the opposition, and resorted to ruling by decrees. This gross violation was when democracy there, in our perception, effectively unravelled.

Nigeria’s intervention in Benin was far more than an alignment with its obligation under the ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance. More crucially, its enlightened self-interest was evident in that Benin is its next-door neighbour, with huge economic and security ties, and with long stretches of shared porous borders.

Having two neighbours – Niger being the other – under the spell of military rule, and a strong jihadist foothold, clearly presents palpable danger to our country. Particularly with Nigeria already in the throes of insurgency and other criminal enterprises. Besides, lingering memory of a purported coup plot involving 16 officers, against the Tinubu administration in October, foretells of a potential threat that needs to be given the attention it truly deserves.

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A Benin alliance with the union of military-led Sahelian states, if the coup had succeeded, was a strong possibility. Such an eerie reality would have then resulted in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger – all landlocked nations in dire struggles for survival and economic consolidation – having access to the sea, which would have enhanced their situations. Hence, this explains the geopolitical dynamic of France’s role in smouldering the fire. The animus between France and the Sahelian states for expelling it from the region is still very strong.

The foibles of Benin’s democracy notwithstanding, Mr Talon would help his country and ECOWAS at large by walking his talk that, “This treachery will not go unpunished.” It has to be so; swift and maximal in effect, to send a strong message across the region.

However, the cautionary salvo of Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), is worthy of note: “Once you put your opposition leaders in jail, send them into exile, or kill them, you cannot have political stability.” Therefore, commitment to good governance, observing democratic principles and the readiness of members to enforce all ECOWAS protocols are non-negotiable in subduing this ogre of democratic reversals in the region, and Africa at large.