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Erik Esbjörnsson: Nigeria's fighter jets in Benin a mark against juntas
Updated yesterday 14:07 Published yesterday 09:57
The military in Benin claimed on Sunday that they had taken over power in the country, but the coup attempt was later suppressed. Photo: AFP/Benin TV
MOSHI. Nigeria has sent fighter jets to neighboring Benin to help prevent a coup attempt.
Democratic regimes have fallen like dominoes in West Africa, and Benin is one of the few countries where Nigeria has the power to send a signal against the juntas.
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A military coup attempt was carried out on Sunday in Benin, a country that experienced its last military coup more than 50 years ago, in 1972. Gunfire was heard for several hours in the streets of Cotonou and a group of soldiers announced on television that they had taken power from President Patrice Talon, who had previously planned to step down in connection with next year's elections.
The coup attempt failed and order was restored on Sunday evening.
Life in Benin's political capital, Cotonou, returned to normal after the coup attempt was foiled. Photo: Olympia de Maismont/AFP
It is now clear that neighboring Nigeria sent both fighter jets and ground troops to Benin to support the democratically elected regime. Nigerian President Bola Tinubu confirmed this in a statement late Sunday, writing that the intervention was carried out following a request for support from the Beninese government.
The fact that Benin has not experienced a military coup in half a century makes the event very surprising. However, it follows a regional pattern. Country after country in West Africa has seen juntas seize power from elected leaders in recent years: Niger, Chad, Mali, Burkina Faso, and most recently Guinea Bissau (although much is unclear about the circumstances in the latter country).
For the regional cooperation body Ecowas, the coups have become a major problem. Ecowas has zero tolerance for juntas and when so many countries have been affected, the question arises of what Ecowas will be in the future when country after country is excluded.
That is why Nigeria is acting now. Nigeria was ruled for decades by a series of military juntas, but over the past quarter century, democracy has been consolidated in the country, which is the great regional giant in terms of both population and economy. Nigeria is the anchor of the entire Ecowas cooperation.
In the past, other countries have been threatened with military interventions after military coups, but Ecowas has not been able to live up to its threats and has therefore appeared toothless.
Benin, on the other hand, was low-hanging fruit for the Nigerian army. The megacity of Lagos alone, on the border with Benin, has a population more than 30 percent larger than the entire neighboring country, and Cotonou is not even ten kilometers from the Nigerian border.
With the intervention, Nigeria appears to be somewhat more proactive, even though the Benin government already seemed to have the situation under control without Nigerian help.
In the longer term, however, question marks remain about Ecowas's ability to act, and these will not be resolved by Sunday's intervention.
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