The kidnapping of two French nationals (and the murder of a park guide) in 2019 marked a turning point in the evolution of violent extremism in the country, as the first attack by a VEO on Beninese territory.4 In 2023, with VEOs having expanded from the Sahelian states of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger and cemented their presence in Benin’s Atacora and Alibori departments, recorded kidnapping incide. [...] As of the end of November 2023, VEOs had been involved in 69% and 76% of conflict events in Atacora and Alibori respectively.23 Opportunism and exploitation: geographies at play The geography of the extremist presence in northern Benin is particularly important in understanding how VEOs were able to penetrate the country. [...] In May 2019, two years before VEOs started claiming attacks in northern Benin, the kidnapping of two French nationals and murder of their Beninese guide in the Pendjari National Park was the first event to be attributed to a VEO in Benin.51 The first VEO kidnapping in Benin mirrors the way in which events unfolded four years earlier in Burkina Faso in April 2015 with the kidnapping of Iulian Gherg. [...] In the village of Issènè, in the commune of Malanville, for example, extremist groups reportedly supplied weapons to Fulani herders in 2022, following a local dispute with Dendi farmers the previous year.121 The particular combination of the national park environment and widespread reliance on illicit and informal economies in northern Benin make the region particularly vulnerable to VEO expansion. [...] However, in the wake of the coup d’état in Niger in July 2023, and in response to perceived antagonism on the part of President Talon’s government, the military junta in Niger declared the agreement null and void.
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- Published in
- Switzerland
