1
00:00:00,080 –> 00:00:04,080
Speaker 1: President Bola ahmed To Nubu of Nigeria has expressed happiness

2
00:00:04,120 –> 00:00:08,000
that Nigeria troops, both their and land soldiers have successfully

3
00:00:08,000 –> 00:00:11,800
foiled the coup attempt in Benin Republic on Sunday, saying

4
00:00:12,400 –> 00:00:16,719
latest report from the Benin Republic indicated that Colonel Pascal Tigri,

5
00:00:17,199 –> 00:00:20,280
the leader of the mutineers who seized the country’s national

6
00:00:20,320 –> 00:00:23,039
television on Sunday, is on the run and some other

7
00:00:23,120 –> 00:00:25,839
members of the group have been arrested as the defense

8
00:00:25,920 –> 00:00:29,519
and security forces in the country thwarted the attempted push

9
00:00:29,879 –> 00:00:34,359
and according to the Nigeria President, Nigeria government acted on

10
00:00:34,439 –> 00:00:38,280
two separate requests from the government of Benin Republic, saying

11
00:00:38,640 –> 00:00:43,039
President Tanubu first ordered Nigerian Air Force fighter jets to

12
00:00:43,200 –> 00:00:45,920
enter the country and take over the airspace to help

13
00:00:45,960 –> 00:00:48,799
dislodge the coup plotters from the National TV in the

14
00:00:48,840 –> 00:00:52,640
military camp where they had regrouped, and secondly ordered ground

15
00:00:52,679 –> 00:00:56,479
troops into the Benim Republic territory, which the Nigeria military

16
00:00:56,520 –> 00:00:59,719
troops have been confirmed to have taken positions in both

17
00:00:59,759 –> 00:01:02,799
air and land space in the Benin Republic, with some

18
00:01:02,920 –> 00:01:05,840
local residents saying a few minutes ago that the gun

19
00:01:05,879 –> 00:01:10,560
battle is still ongoing. Bao on Anuga, the spokesperson to

20
00:01:10,640 –> 00:01:13,959
the Nigeria President, in a number of statements on Sunday,

21
00:01:14,040 –> 00:01:19,280
said coup in Benin fails. Mutineers in military uniform who

22
00:01:19,359 –> 00:01:23,959
attempted to overthrow President Patrise Talons democratic government on Sunday

23
00:01:24,040 –> 00:01:28,200
in the Republic of Benin have failed. The mutineers seized

24
00:01:28,200 –> 00:01:32,120
the National TV after failing to enter President Talon’s residents.

25
00:01:32,879 –> 00:01:36,200
The latest report from Kotanou said the National Guard has

26
00:01:36,280 –> 00:01:40,000
taken control of the situation and surrounded the television station.

27
00:01:40,879 –> 00:01:44,799
According to twenty four Hours in Benin, discussions are underway

28
00:01:44,840 –> 00:01:49,159
with the mutineers now hold up inside the station. Benin’s

29
00:01:49,200 –> 00:01:53,000
Interior Minister, a Lar Saint Cidu says the country’s armed

30
00:01:53,040 –> 00:01:57,159
forces have foarted an attempted coup. His statement came after

31
00:01:57,239 –> 00:02:00,640
soldiers appeared on state television and announced the removal of

32
00:02:00,680 –> 00:02:04,400
President Patrise Talon, the closure of borders and suspension of

33
00:02:04,439 –> 00:02:09,639
political parties. President Bola Ahmed Tenubu has commended the gallantry

34
00:02:09,639 –> 00:02:13,280
of Nigeria’s military on Sunday for responding swiftly to the

35
00:02:13,319 –> 00:02:16,439
request by the government of Benin. Republic to save its

36
00:02:16,479 –> 00:02:19,960
thirty five year old democracy from coup plotters who struck

37
00:02:19,960 –> 00:02:23,680
had dawn today. Acting on two separate requests from the

38
00:02:23,680 –> 00:02:27,960
government of Benin, President Tanubu first ordered Nigerian Air Force

39
00:02:28,039 –> 00:02:30,520
fighter jets to enter the country and take over the

40
00:02:30,560 –> 00:02:33,879
airspace to help dislodge the coup plotters from the National

41
00:02:33,919 –> 00:02:37,759
TV and a military camp where they had regrouped. The

42
00:02:37,800 –> 00:02:41,680
Republic of Benin, through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in

43
00:02:41,759 –> 00:02:46,080
a note verbal, requested immediate Nigerian air support in view

44
00:02:46,120 –> 00:02:49,000
of the urgency and seriousness of the situation and to

45
00:02:49,039 –> 00:02:53,800
safeguard the constitutional order, protect national institutions and insure the

46
00:02:53,840 –> 00:02:58,520
security of the population. In the second request, the authorities

47
00:02:58,560 –> 00:03:01,759
in Benin requested the deploy ooyment of Nigerian Air Force

48
00:03:01,800 –> 00:03:06,520
assets within Benenoi’s airspace for surveillance and rapid intervention operations

49
00:03:06,599 –> 00:03:11,879
under Benin led coordination. The Benin government also requested Nigerian

50
00:03:11,960 –> 00:03:15,919
ground forces strictly for missions approved by the Beninese Command

51
00:03:15,960 –> 00:03:20,039
Authority in support of the protection of constitutional institutions and

52
00:03:20,120 –> 00:03:24,719
the containment of armed groups. Nigeria’s Chief of Defense Staff,

53
00:03:25,080 –> 00:03:28,560
General Ola Femi Oliidae said all the requests have been

54
00:03:28,599 –> 00:03:33,479
fulfilled with Nigerian ground forces now in Benin. Ours is

55
00:03:33,520 –> 00:03:36,000
to comply with the order of the Commander in Chief

56
00:03:36,039 –> 00:03:41,400
of our Armed Forces, President Danubu. He said, constitutional order

57
00:03:41,520 –> 00:03:45,479
was uphended in the Republic of Benin, Nigeria’s neighbour when

58
00:03:45,560 –> 00:03:49,000
some soldiers led by Colonel Pascal Tigri announced a coup

59
00:03:49,120 –> 00:03:53,159
on Sunday morning. The puchest seized the National TV and

60
00:03:53,240 –> 00:03:57,479
claimed they had toggled President Patrice Tallon and suspended all

61
00:03:57,599 –> 00:04:01,919
democratic institutions. It took some hours before the government’s loyal

62
00:04:02,000 –> 00:04:06,199
forces assisted by Nigeria, took control and flushed out the

63
00:04:06,319 –> 00:04:10,159
coup plotters from the National TV. In his remarks after

64
00:04:10,199 –> 00:04:14,840
the restoration of the democratic and constitutional order, President Tanubu

65
00:04:14,879 –> 00:04:18,160
saluted the Nigerian Armed Forces for standing firm as a

66
00:04:18,199 –> 00:04:23,360
protector and defender of democracy. Today. The Nigerian Armed Forces

67
00:04:23,399 –> 00:04:27,040
stood gallantly as a defender and protector of constitutional order

68
00:04:27,120 –> 00:04:30,160
in the Republic of Benin. On the invitation of the government.

69
00:04:30,959 –> 00:04:34,240
Our Armed Forces acted within the ambit of the ECHOAZ

70
00:04:34,319 –> 00:04:38,839
Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance. They have helped stabilize

71
00:04:38,879 –> 00:04:41,360
a neighbouring country and have made us proud of their

72
00:04:41,399 –> 00:04:45,600
commitment to sustaining our democratic values and ideals since nineteen

73
00:04:45,759 –> 00:04:50,120
ninety nine. Nigeria stands firmly with the government and people

74
00:04:50,199 –> 00:04:53,639
of the Republic of Benin. The latest report from the

75
00:04:53,639 –> 00:04:57,319
Benin Republic said Colonel Pascal Tigri, the leader of the

76
00:04:57,399 –> 00:05:01,000
mutineers who seized the country’s national tea v on Sunday,

77
00:05:01,319 –> 00:05:04,800
is on the run. However, some other members of the

78
00:05:04,839 –> 00:05:08,079
group have been arrested as the defense and security forces

79
00:05:08,120 –> 00:05:12,480
in the country thwarted the attempted push. Benin’s Interior Minister,

80
00:05:12,920 –> 00:05:15,959
a Lar Saint Cidu has appeared on national TV to

81
00:05:16,000 –> 00:05:20,199
announce that the coup has been thwarted. Early on Sunday morning,

82
00:05:20,560 –> 00:05:24,040
the seventh of December twenty twenty five, a small group

83
00:05:24,079 –> 00:05:27,319
of soldiers launched a mutiny aimed at destabilizing the state

84
00:05:27,360 –> 00:05:32,199
and its institutions. Faced with this situation, the Beninese armed

85
00:05:32,199 –> 00:05:35,759
forces and their leadership, true to their oath, remained committed

86
00:05:35,800 –> 00:05:39,639
to the republic. Their response allowed them to retain control

87
00:05:39,720 –> 00:05:43,680
of the situation and foil the attempt. The government therefore

88
00:05:43,800 –> 00:05:47,240
urges the population to go about their activities as normal.

89
00:05:48,000 –> 00:05:51,800
Army lee saware the founder of Saha Airports News Media

90
00:05:51,839 –> 00:05:55,879
and a human rights activist, in a statement on Sunday, said,

91
00:05:56,360 –> 00:05:58,879
the so called coups in Guinea Bissau in the latest

92
00:05:58,920 –> 00:06:04,079
episode in the Benin Republic share disturbing similarities. In Guinea Bissau,

93
00:06:04,480 –> 00:06:08,160
the phony coup unfolded after a criminal former president effectively

94
00:06:08,199 –> 00:06:11,639
invited the military to intervene to avoid announcing elections and

95
00:06:11,720 –> 00:06:15,319
relinquishing power to an opposition figure with a popular mandate.

96
00:06:16,079 –> 00:06:18,680
It was not a seizure of power to restore order,

97
00:06:18,959 –> 00:06:23,240
but a manipulation of force to escape democratic progress. The

98
00:06:23,319 –> 00:06:27,800
situation in Benin raises equally troubling questions. There are strong

99
00:06:27,839 –> 00:06:31,800
indications that President Patrice Talon, a deeply shady figure and

100
00:06:31,879 –> 00:06:35,720
a close ally of Assawajubola ahmed To Nubu, may have

101
00:06:35,839 –> 00:06:39,000
been aware of the coupot allowed it to unfold, and

102
00:06:39,040 –> 00:06:42,000
then used it as a political diversion to shift public

103
00:06:42,000 –> 00:06:47,120
attention away from his growing unpopularity. In this sense, instability

104
00:06:47,160 –> 00:06:50,600
becomes a calculated tool of political survival rather than an

105
00:06:50,680 –> 00:06:55,040
unforeseen threat to democracy. Of course, I am opposed to

106
00:06:55,079 –> 00:06:58,959
military rule in all its forms. I am allergic to it,

107
00:06:59,399 –> 00:07:03,879
whether inviighted staged or exploited coups, and never a solution

108
00:07:04,079 –> 00:07:08,040
to political failure. The answer to bad civilian leadership is

109
00:07:08,079 –> 00:07:13,759
not guns, military jack boots and camouflage, but accountability, popular struggle,

110
00:07:14,079 –> 00:07:17,600
and genuine democracy. It would be recalled that a group

111
00:07:17,639 –> 00:07:21,519
of soldiers appeared on Benin’s national television on Sunday morning,

112
00:07:21,560 –> 00:07:25,600
claiming to have seized power. The group, which called itself

113
00:07:25,639 –> 00:07:29,639
the Military Committee for Refoundation, announced the removal of President

114
00:07:29,680 –> 00:07:34,879
Patrise Tallon and all state institutions. Lieutenant Colonel Pascal Tigri

115
00:07:35,079 –> 00:07:38,879
was thereafter appointed president of the Military Committee. According to

116
00:07:38,920 –> 00:07:42,600
the soldier, the signal of the national television was cut

117
00:07:42,720 –> 00:07:46,199
later in the morning. The French embassy said on x

118
00:07:46,279 –> 00:07:50,160
that gunfire was reported at Camp Gazo, near the president’s

119
00:07:50,160 –> 00:07:54,879
official residence, and urged French citizens to remain indoors. Shortly

120
00:07:54,920 –> 00:07:58,680
after the soldier’s declaration, a source close to Talent told

121
00:07:58,720 –> 00:08:02,279
a f P the president was safe and the regular

122
00:08:02,399 –> 00:08:07,079
army was regaining control. Bernin’s Foreign minister a Lushegan Ajadi

123
00:08:07,160 –> 00:08:11,720
Bukhari also told Reuters the situation is under control, while

124
00:08:11,800 –> 00:08:16,800
government spokesperson Wilfrid Humberji told APP everything is fine. According

125
00:08:16,800 –> 00:08:23,600
to Al Jazeera news network, Ossasua Agedli grigdin U Gunes

126
00:08:23,759 –> 00:08:24,839
in the mortgages Al