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| Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu and Paul Biya of Cameroon |
— YAOUNDÉ
West and Central Africa are on edge after a failed coup attempt in Benin on December 6–7, 2025, triggered widespread alarm in neighboring Nigeria and Cameroon. Both governments now fear military takeovers amid surging terrorism, economic hardship, and political tensions.
In Abuja the capital of Nigeria, President Bola Tinubu appealed to French President Emmanuel Macron for urgent security assistance. The call followed a string of mass abductions, attacks by Boko Haram and armed Fulani bandits that have allegedly overwhelmed Nigerian forces.
France publicly pledged strengthened support, including intelligence sharing, logistics, and humanitarian aid, while also expressing concern about interference from other countries, such as Russia and the United States, which it believes are seeking to reduce its influence in Africa.
France has already provided surveillance and logistical help to Benin at ECOWAS request, signaling rapid regional mobilization.
Cameroon, ruled by 92-year-old President Paul Biya for 43 years, faces growing unrest ahead of expected 2026 elections. Separatist fighting in the Anglophone regions and jihadist incursions in the Far North have stretched the military thin as done to Nigeria which faces terrorism and attacks on Christians by Islamist terrorists, fueling quiet appeals to Paris for backup.
Many Cameroonian officers still suspect France of backing a 1984 coup attempt against Biya. However, pragmatic needs appear to outweigh old grievances as Yaoundé seeks French reassurance against internal threats. “Any serious coup plotter always have strong backing from, you know. Some people in the military who are fed up with the way things are going on here in Cameroon might already be planning a coup which I fear will cost lives of those who will want to stop its successful. So the government fears that,” a security expert, Albert Patrice told Gazette Africa.
Across social media platforms, users in both countries are openly debating whether Nigeria and Cameroon could be “next” after Benin. Anti-French sentiment competes with desperate calls for any external help to prevent collapse.
The renewed Franco-African security axis marks a partial revival of France’s influence in the region, despite recent expulsions from Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. For now, Paris is positioning itself as the indispensable partner for governments determined to avoid the fate of their junta-led neighbors.