Benin Republic coup: Need for deeper reflection 

The attempt by a group of soldiers to take over the reins of government in Benin Republic on December 7, 2025 further demonstrate the encroachment of undemocratic forces in the West African sub region. The putschists, who were led by a little-known Lieutenant Colonel Pascal Tigri, had invaded the Presidential Palace, where President Patrice Talon resides and temporarily took […]

The attempt by a group of soldiers to take over the reins of government in Benin Republic on December 7, 2025 further demonstrate the encroachment of undemocratic forces in the West African sub region.
The putschists, who were led by a little-known Lieutenant Colonel Pascal Tigri, had invaded the Presidential Palace, where President Patrice Talon resides and temporarily took over the country’s national television station where they announced the botched coup.
However, a quick intervention by soldiers from Nigeria, among others succeeded in foiling the coup and restored sanity.
The incident marked one more episode in the trend of violent overthrow of constitutional governments in the West African sub region. Already, five countries -Niger Republic, Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau are under military governments and had the attempt in Benin succeeded, this would have brought the number to six.
We at the Daily Trust welcomed the quick decision by President Bola Tinubu to send in the Nigerian Air Force to dislodge the coup plotters. We believe this is in the best interest of Nigeria in view of the fact that it is grappling with two neighbouring countries that recently witnessed successful coups. Having another neighbour under similar circumstance will not be good for the country and the sub region.
Again, the Benin attempt came just few days after a successful takeover of the government by soldiers in Guinea Bissau. Thus, allowing another take over may further encourage similar attempts in other countries.
We note criticisms by Nigerians over the president’s decision especially given the fact that Nigeria is contending with various security breaches across the country and our military already overstretched. But, that notwithstanding, we owe it to Africa to lead in removing any threat to democracy in the continent.
Against this background, we believe President Tinubu deserves commendation for the prompt and proper way he acted in dispatching our military forces to quell the attempted coup in Benin. And while at that, we also commend the military for the professional way they handled the assigned orders with favourable outcomes.
However, beyond this victory for democracy, it is time for a deeper reflection on the future of democracy in the sub region. It should worry us that there have been incidents of military return to power in the sub region in the last few years.
In doing this, there should be a critical assessment of democratic records in many of the member states. In recent years, the region has been witnessing flagrant abuse of democratic principles by those in power. This includes tenure extension and muzzling of opponents.
For instance, there are reports that President Talon arrested and detained political opponents under trumped up charges.
Similarly, former Guinea Bissau president, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, was alleged to have arranged the coup that toppled him when he realised that he had lost to his opponent in the presidential election.
Another reason for these incursions is the failure of political leadership to provide dividends of democracy to their citizens. Many years after the return to democracy in most of these countries, citizens still struggle to eke a living while social services are often hard to access. Under such circumstances, the citizens will be too willing to accept an alternative in the hope that their lives will change.
Daily Trust calls on the leaders of ECOWAS to make a pledge to ensure adherence and sustenance to democratic principles in their respective countries. They should adhere strictly to term limits, allow for the flourishing of opposition parties and ensure free and fair elections.
In addition, they must strive to make life easy for their citizens by providing those basic services such as schools, hospitals among others.
We are concerned that the December 14 meeting of the ECOWAS leaders in Abuja, which was summoned to find ways to stop coups in the region, was not specific on how to address the situation. At this time, the citizens are eager to know how the leaders want to end these incidents which are threatening development. The earlier the leaders come up with concrete action the better for the region.