Professor Vladmir Antwi-Danso, an international relations and security expert, has taken a swipe on the decision by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to deploy troops to Benin.
The regional economic bloc announced a standby troop to the West African nation on Sunday, December 7, 2025, after some members of the Benin Armed Forces attempted an overthrow of the government.
In an announcement made earlier on the nation’s official broadcaster, the soldiers announced that they had seized power and overthrown President Patrice Talon on Sunday.
The French Embassy in Benin announced that gunfire erupted near the President’s residence in Cotonou, the capital, as the soldiers announced the suspension of the constitution and the closure of the country’s land borders and airspace.
ECOWAS, in reaction to the development announced a regional standby force to the Republic of Benin.
Responding to the approach, the security and international relations expert described the bloc’s approach as a “knee-jerk reaction”, saying that is not the solution to the issue.
He said ECOWAS should rather focus on gathering proper intelligence to ensure the lives of the troops are not put in danger, suggesting that priority should be given to curbing the situation rather than sending out troops to counter.
Prof. Antwi-Danso announced that preventive diplomacy, intelligence gathering and well-structured interventions should be the priority, rather than the deployment of military.
“ECOWAS is always having a knee-jerk reaction,” he said. “When a situation like this happens, intelligence is very important. You need to understand the environment before acting. If any of the troops that have just been rushed to Benin include a Ghanaian contingent, and there are casualties, the repercussions back home will be very bad.”
“We must look at what we can do to curb the situation rather than rushing our soldiers there,” he emphasised.
Benin soldiers announce coup, confirm President Talon’s overthrow
