Niger's Tchiani keeps border with Benin closed, citing security concerns

Niger’s president Abdourahamane Tchiani this weekend said the country’s border with Benin would remain closed “as long as the security situation does not evolve” on the Beninese side.

The head of state spoke during a Saturday rally in Gaya, a town located just a few kilometres from the border.

He accused Benin of hosting French troops on its territory and claimed Benin was allowing Western countries to “finance and support terrorism” in order to destabilise the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).

Niger’s military authorities have used similar arguments in the past but Benin keeps denying these allegations.

Tchiani also said opening the border “would mean betraying the aspirations of the Nigerien people.”

The border between Niger and Benin has been closed since July 2023, in the aftermath of the coup that brought the military junta of general Tchiani to power.

Tensions have affected human and commercial exchanges between the two countries over the past two years.

Benin invited Burkina Faso and Niger — two members of the AES — to participate in the military parade for its national day in August in an attempt to ease relations. Both countries declined to send troops.