COTONOU — Ruling party frontrunner Romuald Wadagni, Benin’s finance minister since 2016, pledged Monday, March 23, to establish municipal police forces in northern border towns to shield communities from escalating jihadist attacks, as he unveiled his platform ahead of the April 12 presidential election.
Wadagni, the clear favorite to succeed President Patrice Talon, stressed collaboration with neighbors like Niger and Nigeria is essential, as Sahel insurgents ramp up assaults on the tri-border region. “We have no choice” but to unite against the threat, he said, envisioning local youth trained and equipped “to defend their homes, families, siblings, and surroundings.”
Benin’s Republican Police and military already patrol the north, but Wadagni offered no details on officer numbers or costs for the new forces.
The promise spotlights Wadagni’s top hurdle: spiraling insecurity undermining Talon’s economic reforms and tourism push. Benin rarely publicizes jihadist violence, but acknowledged an al Qaeda-linked Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin attack last April killing 54 soldiers, and another this month that claimed 15 lives and wounded five at a northern camp.
Discontent boiled over in a foiled December military coup attempt, where soldiers cited northern chaos and neglect of fallen comrades; neighboring Nigeria aided in thwarting the plot. Wadagni’s security focus aims to stabilize the north and secure his mandate in a volatile region.