On Nigeria’s Intervention in Benin Republic – By Frank Ofili

On 7 December 2025, an attempted coup took place in Republic of Benin. A group of soldiers briefly announced on national television that they had overthrown President Patrice Talon and suspended the constitution. The attempt was however quickly thwarted by loyalist forces with support from regional country, Nigeria.

Since then, there have been arguments as to whether Nigeria had any legal backing for her intervention in another sovereign country. As with all things Nigeria, opinions are divided and parallels are being drawn with US President Trump’s threat of military intervention in Nigeria on account of what he alleged to be Christian genocide in northern Nigeria.

Personally, I have no problem with Nigeria’s intervention, and I do not think anybody should be disingenuous enough to attempt to compare our intervention with US President’s threat of military intervention in Nigeria under the guise of Christian genocide.

I think Nigeria’s intervention in Republic of Benin was legitimate on six main fronts.

1, We were invited by the legitimately elected government of President Patrice Talon to counter the coup attempt. Nigeria responded militarily (including airstrikes and troop deployment) in coordination with ECOWAS and as part of an ECOWAS Standby Force deployment.

2. Our intervention was in line with Article 25(e) of ECOWAS Protocol, which allows the bloc to constitute and deploy a regional standby force to maintain or restore peace and constitutional order when a member state faces serious threat to its democratic system.

3. There are precedents. Nigeria did it in Liberia, Sierra Leone and The Gambia.

4. Under Section 5(5) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), the President must consult the Senate and seek its approval before deploying Nigerian forces abroad for combat missions or security operations. Unless of course in an emergency, in which case, the President must seek Senate ratification immediately afterwards. Mr. President did just that, securing Senate consent for troop deployment. This provides domestic legal backing for the intervention.

5. While ECOWAS protocols were central, Nigeria also aligned its action with the African Union’s (AU) Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, which condemns unconstitutional changes of government and encourages member states to uphold democratic processes. Nigeria referenced this broader continental commitment in condemning the coup attempt.

6. Although less legal and more strategic, instability in neighbouring Benin could spill over into Nigeria —through security threats like jihadist insurgencies, refugee flows, and border insecurity. Acting swiftly to prevent a neighbouring state from collapsing into chaos is therefore a way of defending Nigeria’s own national security and regional stability interests.

In the case of Trump, we did not invite him or the United States. His allegation of Christian genocide is not credible. Although I do admit Christians have been, and are still being killed, in conflicts in Nigeria, I hardly think it is state-sponsored.

However, even if Trump’s allegation is true, is he the International Criminal Court, ICC, a UN Ad Hoc Tribunal, a court in Nigeria or a special Hybrid international/national court constituted for such?

A President of the United States of America that is not a state party to the ICC (Rome Statute) cannot possibly, legally and morally claim jurisdiction over a matter that is within the purview of the ICC.

With regards to the Genocide Convention, the US voted for it in 1948 and formally ratified it on November 25, 1988, making it legally binding but only domestically and with certain reservations.

The bottomline is that the attempts I have been reading everywhere to draw a parallel between our intervention in Benin Republic and Trump’s threat of intervention in Nigeria does not hold water.

Still, I wish President Tinubu would deploy the same swiftness and decisiveness in tackling the bandits and terrorists terrorizing our country. After all, charity begins from home.

Lastly, I hope we are truly prepared to play this role of the West African police man? I ask because a coup happened in Niger in 2023 and we didn’t intervene, although you could argue that Nigeria was not directly invited to intervene. The second question is, do we still have the means to play the role of the West African police man? Suppose, just suppose, a coup happens in Ghana or Ivory Coast, can we do as we have just done in Benin, even if invited?