Benin Roundup: Constitutional review, leadership fracas with Niger, fire incidents

Constitutional review

President of the Republican Bloc parliamentary group, Assan Séïbou has refused to withdraw a bill revising the Constitution despite the Head of State’s reservation on the matter, La Nation reports. According to him, he undertook the initiative independently and not on behalf of the Republic Block group which he leads. The MP is looking to amend two articles of Law No. 90-32 of December 11, 1990, establishing the Constitution of the Republic of Benin as amended by Law No. 2019-40 of November 7, 2019. These are Articles 42 Paragraphs 2 and 153 of the basic law in force. It aims at promoting the principles of equality and legitimacy of deputies and mayors who must sponsor candidates for the presidential election in Benin per the Constitutional Court decision to reorganize the order of the electoral calendar to organize the presidential election before the legislative and municipal elections from 2026 and to strengthen the limitation of the number of presidential mandates to two.

Criminal arrests

Three Cameroonians have been arrested and imprisoned in Benin after distributing false press releases announcing an auction allegedly organized by the country’s Customs. A search carried out at their homes resulted in the discovery of an estimated hundred SIM cards from various countries Benin Web reports. They are being prosecuted for the dissemination of inaccurate information in the name of Beninese Customs.

Exchanges between Benin and Niger leaders

The Beninese President, Patrice Talon, and Niger’s head of state, General Abdourahamane Tchiani have engaged in verbal exchanges in recent times. This follows some statements by President Talon about the effectiveness of ECOWAS sanctions against Niger. Nigerian leader Tchiani responded to this accusing Talon of seeking another mandate rather than the well-being of his people. President Talon however reacted to this, indicating that he did not want a third term nor a revision of Benin’s constitution as is being suggested, La Novelle Tribune reported.

Fire incident

A fire truck carrying 40 tonnes of soybeans was consumed in a fire on February 11, 2024, in Tekparou, district of Tchat chou, commune of Tchaourou. According to 24Heures au Benin, a local news platform, the fire broke out near Tékparou around 5 p.m. after leaving Parakou towards Cotonou. No casualties were recorded as the driver and his apprentice reportedly jumped from the vehicle before the fire razed.

 Cybercrime arrests

Seven individuals suspected of cybercrime were arrested by police in Benin on February 9 in Parakou. The suspects were arrested during an operation by the police of Parakou. The operations according to Benin Web were successful due to the intelligence network of police personnel in the area. The individuals were arrested at their residence which had been transformed into a cybercrime laboratory. They were subsequently transferred to the Central Office for the Repression of Cybercrime (OCRC) in Cotonou.