Nigerian Senate approves Tinubu's request to send troops into neighbouring Benin Republic

NIGERIA'S senate has approved a request from President Bola Tinubu to send troops into neighbouring Republic of Benin to help beleaguered President Patrice Talon put down a coup staged by rebel soldiers.

Following on from a growing trend across West Africa that has seen the governments of Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger Republic and most-recently Guinea-Bissau overthrown by the military, Benin Republic's capital Cotonou was taken over by soldiers on Sunday morning. However, loyal forces managed to foil the coup and President Talon is safe and sound, partly due to the assistance he received from the Nigerian military.

To help put down the coup, President Tinubu sent in Nigerian Air Force jets to help locate the rebels and assist flushing them out. To help restore total normality, President Tinubu then asked the Nigerian Senate to agree to troop deployment and this morning, that request was granted with senators voting on the deployment.

Nigeria's National Assembly has now given legislative backing for the regional security intervention, in a move that sets a new precedence. Senate president, Senator Godswill Akpabio announced the results of the vote earlier today, describing the decision as a step in the right direction, noting that instability in any neighbouring state poses a threat to the entire region.

Senator Akpabio said: “An injury to one is an injury to all.” In his letter to the Senate, President Tinubu had requested permission for the deployment, noting that Nigeria bears a historic responsibility to assist Benin under existing Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) security arrangements.

An Ecowas spokesman said: “After consultation among members of the Mediation and Security Council at the level of heads of state and government, the chair of Ecowas Authority of Heads of State and Government has ordered the deployment of elements of the standby force to the Republic of Benin with immediate effect.

"The regional force shall be made up of troops from the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Republic of Sierra Leone, the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, the Republic of Ghana. The force shall support the government and the Republican Army of Benin to preserve constitutional order and the territorial integrity of the Republic of Benin."