On Saturday, June 20, Niger’s Interior Minister, General Mohamed Toumba, met with Benin’s expert committee in Cotonou to discuss border reopening terms.

Two non-negotiable conditions emerged: “the formalization of a defense pact” and “a binding security agreement ensuring neither nation permits its soil to be used against the other.”

General Toumba further insisted on “full transparency regarding foreign military deployments near the shared border, which follows the Niger River.”

For years, Niamey has accused Cotonou of hosting French military bases along the frontier—a claim both Benin and Paris have consistently denied.

The border has remained shut for nearly three years, ever since Niger’s military leadership took power in July 2023, alleging Benin was collaborating with France to destabilize the country.

Thaw in strained relations

Relations between the two nations began warming after Benin’s President Romuald Wadagni made an official visit to Niger earlier this month, easing tensions amid persistent jihadist violence linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.

The Nigerian Interior Minister, a key figure in the junta, also called for “the immediate establishment of a bilateral intelligence fusion cell” to enable Benin and Niger’s armies to combat shared threats “that know no borders.”