The Republic of Benin recently experienced an attempted coup d'état on a Sunday morning, led by Colonel Pascal Tigri, who, along with renegade soldiers, seized the national television station and claimed to have removed President Patrice Talon from office. This audacious move also saw the suspension of democratic institutions and was accompanied by gunfire heard near the presidential residence in Cotonou, Benin's largest city and seat of government.

In response to this grave situation, Benin's Ministry of Foreign Affairs urgently sought assistance from Nigeria. Two separate requests were made: first, for immediate air support to safeguard constitutional order and protect national institutions, and second, for the continued deployment of Nigerian aerial assets for surveillance and rapid intervention, along with Nigerian ground forces to operate strictly under the directives of the Beninese command to protect constitutional bodies and contain armed elements.

President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria swiftly authorized the deployment of Nigerian Air Force fighter jets to secure Benin’s airspace. These aircraft were tasked with dislodging the renegade soldiers from the national broadcaster and a military camp where they had regrouped. Nigeria's Chief of Defence Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede, confirmed that all directives had been carried out and that Nigerian troops were already on Beninese soil, acting in line with the Commander in Chief's instructions.

Further to Nigeria's intervention, the ECOWAS Commission also announced the immediate deployment of elements of the ECOWAS Standby Force to the Republic of Benin. This action was taken pursuant to Article 25(e) of the 1999 Protocol Relating to the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution Peacekeeping and Security, and followed consultations among members of the Mediation and Security Council at the level of Heads of State and Government. The regional force is composed of troops from the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Republic of Sierra Leone, the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, and the Republic of Ghana, mandated to support the Government and the Republican Army of Benin in preserving constitutional order and territorial integrity.

Loyalist forces in Benin, significantly supported by Nigerian units, successfully regained control of key sites, including the national broadcaster, after several hours of confrontation. Huge explosions were heard in Cotonou later that Sunday afternoon, thought to be the result of air strikes, with flight-tracking data showing three aircraft entering Benin’s airspace from Nigeria before returning home.

In a national address on Sunday evening, President Patrice Talon, 67, declared that loyalist forces had