A frontrunner in West Africa’s upcoming presidential election has announced plans to establish local police units in northern border communities to combat escalating extremist violence.
Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni, who serves as the ruling party’s candidate for Benin’s April 12 presidential election, outlined his security strategy while presenting his campaign platform. Wadagni has held his current cabinet position under President Patrice Talon’s administration since 2016.
The proposed municipal police forces would operate in northern border communities, where extremist groups have intensified their operations. Wadagni emphasized that Benin has “no choice” but to collaborate with neighboring nations to tackle these security threats, as militants from the Sahel region escalate attacks along the borders shared by Niger, Benin, and Nigeria.
While Benin already maintains both national Republican Police units and military personnel in the northern region, Wadagni did not provide specific numbers for the proposed municipal officers or detail the program’s anticipated costs.
“The goal will be to ensure that young people, in their own environment, are trained, equipped, and given the opportunity to defend their homes, their families, their siblings, and their surroundings,” he said.
Northern security concerns represent a major challenge awaiting Wadagni if he succeeds Talon, who has focused on comprehensive economic reforms while working to enhance Benin’s tourism sector.
Although Benin typically maintains silence regarding extremist violence in its northern territories, officials confirmed last April that al Qaeda-affiliated group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin conducted an assault that resulted in 54 military fatalities. A more recent attack this month claimed 15 soldiers’ lives and injured five others at a northern military installation.
The deteriorating security situation sparked a failed military coup attempt against Talon in December, with discontented soldiers citing worsening northern security conditions “coupled with the disregard and neglect of our fallen brothers-in-arms.”
Regional partners, including Nigeria, assisted in preventing the coup attempt.
