Tinubu had earlier ordered the Nigerian military to enter the Benin Republic and assist in dislodging the coup plotters.
By Kehinde Okeowo
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has praised the gallantry of Nigeria’s military after they helped to restore the democratically elected President of the Republic of Benin, Patrice Talon, on Sunday, thereby saving the country’s 35-year-old democracy from coup plotters who struck at dawn.
This was contained in a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to the President.
Acting on two separate requests from the Government of Benin, President Tinubu ordered Nigerian Air Force fighter jets to enter the country and take over its airspace to help dislodge the coup plotters from the National TV station and a military camp where they had regrouped.
He also approved a request from the Benin government for the deployment of Nigerian ground forces.
Confirming the development, Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede, said all the requests were fulfilled.
“Ours is to comply with the order of the Commander-in-Chief of our armed forces, President Tinubu,” he said.
READ ALSO: Benin Republic’s Talon speaks after surviving coup attempt
On Sunday, December 7, constitutional order was briefly upended in the Republic of Benin, when some soldiers led by Colonel Pascal Tigri announced on a national TV station that they had ousted President Talon from power.
The group of soldiers, which called itself the “Military Committee for Refoundation” (CMR), also ordered the closure of borders and the suspension of political parties.
However, government-loyal forces, assisted by the Nigerian military, later took control and flushed out the coup plotters.
Speaking after the restoration of democratic and constitutional order to the Benin Republic, President Tinubu saluted the Nigerian armed forces for standing firm as a protector and defender of democracy.
“Today, the Nigerian armed forces stood gallantly as a defender and protector 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,” President Tinubu said.
“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,” he added.
