Overview
- ECOWAS said the decision followed consultations with its Heads of State and Government and the Mediation and Security Council under Article 25(e) of its 1999 security protocol.
- The Chair of the ECOWAS Authority ordered elements of the regional force to deploy with immediate effect, according to the commission's statement.
- The mission will support Benin’s government and its Republican Army in safeguarding constitutional order and the country’s territorial integrity.
- Early Sunday, army officers briefly claimed on national television to have ousted President Patrice Talon before loyal National Guard units blocked the attempt and made arrests.
- ECOWAS’s Standby Force has no permanent troops, is coordinated from Abuja, and draws contingents from member states for operations that can total up to roughly 6,500 personnel.