UPDATED: Senate approves Tinubu’s request to deploy troops in Benin

•Community in a state of emergency, ECOWAS warns as coups, insecurity deepen regional crisis •ECOWAS applauds Nigeria for foiling Benin coup attempt •Sahel bloc condemns Nigerian military over flight •Burkina Faso did not ground NAF C-130, NAF clarifies

THE Senate has approved President Bola Tinubu’s request to deploy Nigerian troops and air power in the Republic of Benin.

The request, according to the president, was to help protect the neighbouring country’s democratic institutions.

Senators in the Committee of the Whole unanimously approved Tinubu’s request in a voice vote on Tuesday.

In a letter read earlier to senators by the president of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, President Tinubu said the troop deployment on a Peace mission was in compliance with section five (four), Part II of the 1999 constitution in due consultations with the National Defence Council.

Tinubu explained that the deployment was in response to a request made by the Republic of Benin in the wake of the attempted military coup there over the weekend.

 Meanwhile, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has warned that the region is now effectively “in a state of emergency,” as insecurity, political instability and unconstitutional changes of government continue to push displacement figures to alarming levels.

Delivering a stark assessment at the 55th Ordinary Session of the Mediation and Security Council in Abuja, ECOWAS commission president, Dr Omar Alieu Touray, declared that “it is safe to say our community is in a state of emergency,” citing escalating threats from terrorism, banditry and political upheavals.

Touray asserted: “The country-by-country analyses show different risk levels across our community from high to medium, with an average of high risk,” adding that the region “must confront these threats with the attention they deserve.”

He said the situation now requires more frequent high-level engagements, announcing that “sessions of the mediation and security council should be organised more regularly beyond the two ordinary sessions for the next one year.”

He warned that instability, driven by recent coups in Guinea-Bissau and an attempted coup in Benin Republic, expanding terrorist influence, and growing erosion of electoral inclusivity, has pushed West Africa into one of its most fragile periods in decades.

Citing UNHCR data, he noted that “approximately 7.6 million individuals are forcibly displaced across the region,” a rise from 7.4 million earlier this year.

Of these, he said, “6,506,270 are internally displaced persons,” mostly from Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali, while over one million others are refugees and asylum seekers.

“Behind these numbers are families, women and children who bear the brunt of instability,” Touray stressed, calling for decisive regional action to reverse the humanitarian crisis.

He also warned that upcoming elections in Guinea, Benin, the Gambia and Cape Verde risk becoming flashpoints, stressing, “Elections have become a major trigger of instability in our community,” despite ECOWAS’ long-standing constitutional convergence principles.

On relations with the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), Touray said ECOWAS must urgently “negotiate the terms of our security cooperation as we continue to see the devastating effect of terrorist groups along our borders with them.”

He assured citizens that ECOWAS leadership would not relent, pledging that “we will continue to work harder to promote peaceful, stable and stronger region for the overall benefit of community citizens.”

However, the Confederation of the States of the Sahel (AES) has accused Nigeria of violating its confederal airspace after a Nigerian Air Force C-130 aircraft made an emergency landing in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, on Monday.

In a communiqué issued in Bamako and signed by Mali’s transitional leader and AES President, General Assimi Goïta, the bloc said the aircraft, which carried “two crew members and nine passengers, all of them military personnel”, was operating in Burkinabe airspace “without authorisation”.

According to the statement, Burkinabe authorities opened an investigation immediately after the landing and “confirmed that this military aircraft had no authorisation to fly over Burkinabe territory” as it “firmly condemns this violation of its airspace and of the sovereignty of its member states.”

It described the incident as “an unfriendly act carried out in disregard of international law and international civil and/or military aviation rules.”

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), on Tuesday, dismissed reports claiming that Burkinabe authorities grounded a NAF C-130 aircraft for allegedly entering the country’s airspace without authorisation, insisting that the aircraft in question made a precautionary landing at Bobo-Dioulassoin airfield in Burkina Faso.

The clarification was contained in a statement made available to Defence Correspondents in Abuja by the spokesperson, Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame.

The statement explained that the aircraft, on a ferry mission to Portugal on December 8, developed a technical problem a few minutes after take-off from Lagos, Nigeria, and had to make a precautionary landing at Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, the nearest airfield.

This was contrary to reports in some sections of the media that Burkina Faso’s military authorities seized the aircraft and 11 Nigerian military officers due to violation of its airspace.

The statement explained that the landing at the Bobo-Dioulasso airfield was in accordance with standard safety procedures and international aviation protocols.

The statement read in part: “The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) wishes to clarify reports regarding the diversion of a NAF C-130 aircraft during its ferry mission on December 8, 2025, to Portugal for maintenance. Following takeoff from Lagos, the crew observed a technical concern which necessitated a precautionary landing in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, the nearest airfield, in accordance with standard safety procedures and international aviation protocols.

“NAF crew is safe and has received cordial treatment from the host authorities. Plans are ongoing to resume the mission as scheduled.”

The service appreciated the support received during this period and assured the public that NAF remained professionally committed to strict compliance with operational procedures and safety standards, ensuring the protection of its personnel while fulfilling its constitutional mandate.