Niger: Tinubu Meets President of Benin in State House  

Deji Elumoye in Abuja 

President Bola Tinubu is meeting with President Patrice Talon of Benin Republic at the State House, Abuja.

Talon, who arrived the State House at 4:43pm, is visiting for the second time in two weeks, having visited on July 18 along with two other colleague — Presidents Mohamed Bazoum of Niger and Umaro Sissoco Embalo of Guinea-Bissau, for a Troika+ meeting.

He is also meeting President Tinubu for the third time since he assumed office as Nigeria’s President, having met him in Paris, France, at the end of the Summit on New Global Financing Pact.

Today’s meeting is coming on the heels of the news filtering out of Niamey, the capital of Niger Republic, that President Bazoum, had been held hostage by elements within his Presidential Guards.

Tinubu, who is also the Chairman of the Authority of the Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States’ (ECOWAS) Commission, had earlier in the day condemned the development in Niger, warning that the regional body, as well as the global community, would not condone coup d’etat in the subregion.

The ongoing meeting, it was gathered, may be among other things, the development in Benin Republic, as similar issues were the focus of the last Troika+ meeting in Abuja.