Political scientist and national security scholar, Dr Kunle Fagbemi, says Nigeria’s intervention in Benin Republic following the foiled coup attempt may have been executed without required due diligence and could expose the country to strategic risks.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE News on Wednesday, Dr Fagbemi raised concerns over the legality, diplomatic process and motivation behind the deployment, warning that “we ended up falling into an entrapment of the French pseudo containment of the AES… then we would have made a mistake.”
Speaking on the decisions taken by the Nigerian government, he questioned whether proper bureaucratic and constitutional steps were followed.
He said: “The required procedures we are purporting and are urging to have received from the Benin Air Authority’s President, Patrice Talon, is ideally for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs… Now, the question is, did the incumbent President allow the due diligence by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Intelligence Agency?”
Dr Fagbemi stressed that Section 5 of the Nigerian Constitution demands activation of key security structures such as the National Defence Council.
He noted: “Ideally, the risk assessments would have been done at the properly constituted National Defense Council.”
He argued that the speed of decision making and deployment raises suspicion, stating: “Within the context of the number of hours and minutes during which a decision was taken and the deployment of troops were done, we will need to ask the Presidents of the Nigerian states to find out if truly these were followed.”
On the procedural role of ECOWAS, the scholar criticised the authenticity of documents used to justify intervention.
According to him: “The instrument that is in public domain was not signed, it was just a statement on a paper with the logo of ECOWAS.”
Dr Fagbemi also linked the regional tensions involving Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger to geopolitical manoeuvres by France after a report that the French President had spoken with Nigeria’s leader.
He stated: “It is clear that it may have ended up being a continuation of the oppression that the French have been trying to do to isolate and ensure that the AES states do not have access to a coastal platform.”
He warned that consequences could be severe if Nigeria is being used to advance foreign interests: “We will have very bitter experiences and we now need to begin to mitigate against it.”
The scholar further expressed concern over the detention of a Nigerian Air Force aircraft in Burkina Faso, describing the situation as “now being manipulated as it were into a standoff and face-off,” while questioning whether the National Intelligence Agency “did their due diligence.”
Dr Fagbemi insisted that Nigeria must adopt diplomatic restraint and safeguard regional credibility. He added: “If we ended up playing into the hands of the people, we need to be very careful.”
He called for accountability, advising that the National Assembly “institute a very well completed inquiry to understand the dynamics of the defense.”
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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