By Dada Olusegun

In the early hours of Sunday, 7th December, 2025, some elements within the Armed Forces of Benin Republic commanded by Lt. Colonel Pascal Tigri attempted to topple the democratically elected government of the Republic of Benin led by President Patrice Talon. The soldiers attacked the residence of the Beninese President and later appeared on Benin Republic's national TV station early on Sunday morning to say they were suspending the constitution with Lt. Col. Pascal Tigri declaring himself as the new leader of Benin Republic.

This latest coup attempt is coming just over a week after the military take over in Guinea Bissau, another West African Nation who joined Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali and Niger Republic as West African countries under military dictatorship. The Benin coup attempt was one coup too many and at the request of the Benin Republic legitimate democratic government, Nigeria stepped in to help quel the attempted military take over.

As the coup unfolded in Cotonou, the Nigerian government first received a Note Verbale from the Benin Republic Foreign Ministry requesting for an urgent assistance from Nigeria to confront the coupists. This was followed up by a second request from the legitimate government of Benin Republic seeking for the deployment of Nigeria's Airforce and ground forces into Benin Republic to help restore the democratic order and protect the Beninese population.

Acting on these urgent legitimate requests, President Bola Tinubu ordered the immediate deployment of fighter jets from Nigeria and ground troops into Benin Republic to flush out the coupists and restore order. This order was diligently carried out by the Chief of Defence Staff, Lt. General Olufemi Oluyede as Nigerian fighter jets were deployed into the airspace of Benin Republic while units of Nigerian soldiers arrived the country to assist their Benin Republic counterparts still loyal to the civil government to quell the coup.

The fighter jets took over the airspace and helped to dislodge the coup plotters from the Benin national TV as well as from a military camp where they had regrouped. At least 14 people including 12 of the coup potters that went to the national TV have been arrested while manhunt continues to track the other fleeing coup potters who are using civilians hostages as shields. The President of Benin Republic, Patrice Talon has since addressed his nation affirming that the coup attempt has failed and the situation brought under total control.

Thanks to the decisive response by the Nigerian government and the patriotic armed forces of Benin Republic, their country today still has a functioning democracy. ECOWAS has now activated the deployment of an ECOWAS standby force made up of troops from Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire and Sierra Leone into Benin Republic to help the country maintain stability in the aftermath of the unsuccessful coup attempt.

Nigeria is the biggest democracy on the African continent and the dominant economic and military power in the West African sub-region. The events of the past 24 hours in Benin Republic have reminded the world of Nigeria's importance as a regional stablizing force and a big brother to smaller nations. Nigeria's intervention in defence of democracy in the neighbouring Benin has a lot of implications for regional stability and integration, the fight against insecurity especially on a regional scale as well as economic implications.

Deterrence against further coups: First, the swift intervention by Nigeria sends a strong signal that coups and forceful take over of government in the region will be met with decisive regional response, potentially discouraging would-be coup-plotters in other countries, especially those near Nigeria.

Nigeria is already battling a lot of security challenges on many fronts spread across the country. We share a long, porous border with Benin. Therefore, instability in Benin Republic, like one created by a coup, could quickly spill over into Nigeria in the form of mass movements of refugees fleeing the country as well as potential guerrilla warfare that may spill into Nigeria's borders. The intervention prevented that spill-over.

This has also opened another window to explore a more coordinated regional approach to fighting the insecurities plaguing Nigeria and other countries in the Sahelian enclave. One of grudges of the coupists border on the deterioration of the security situation in northern Benin where there is an ongoing effort to fight cross border terrorism and extremism. This is the time to rejuvenate the multinational joint task force comprising Benin Republic, Nigeria, Niger Republic, Chad and Cameroon to deny these terrorists freedom to move across borders through a coordinated military onslaught.

The swift quelling of the coup attempt in Benin Republic also has a positive implications on trade and economic activities in both Benin Republic and Nigeria. Both countries are not just geographic neighbours but linked economically. If the coup had succeeded, it would have upended trade and economic relations between Nigeria and Benin Republic as borders would have been closed and trade suspended temporarily. This would have had serious impact on Nigerian businesses and supply chains who rely heavily on cross-border trade with Benin Republic.

The response of Nigeria to the Benin coup attempt will also undoubtedly shore up investor confidence in the Nigerian economy as investors will be assured that Nigeria has the capability not just to maintain internal stability but also help its neighbours. Stability is always a priority for investors and the fact that Nigeria, despite tackling multiple security challenges of its own, still had the capacity to respond to a regional cry for help will be reassuring to many foreign investors.

Beyond what I have highlighted so far, Nigeria's latest act of big brotherhood has further demonstrated to the world and world leaders that they need to work more with Nigeria as partners if they want to help enthrone stability not just in the West African sub-region but on the African continent.

The fact that this intervention by Nigeria took place amidst an ongoing effort to engage constructively with the United States government on the issue of security will further boost Nigeria's negotiating power. Already, the French government has extended a strong hand of collaboration to Nigeria in the area of fighting insecurity. This may well be the beginning of a broad Nigeria-led international effort at turning the tide of insecurity in the Sahel. If so, it would be ironic that it was triggered by an SOS call from a little brother and neighbour and which a Big Brother duly responded to.