Soyinka: Tinubu overdoing things, security around his son enough to foil Benin coup

Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka has criticised what he described as an excessive deployment of security personnel around Seyi, the son of President Bola Tinubu.

He said the scale of the protection raises questions about Nigeria’s priorities and security management.

Soyinka spoke at the 20th Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism Awards held in Lagos.

He recounted witnessing what he thought was a movie shoot at a hotel in the Ikoyi area of Lagos, only to discover it was a security detail attached to the president’s son.

“I was coming out of my hotel and I saw what looked like a film set. A young man detached himself from the group and greeted me very politely. I asked jokingly if they were shooting a film”, he said.

He said the environment was occupied by a large team of armed personnel.

Speaking further, Soyinka said, “I looked around and there was nearly a whole battalion occupying the ground of the hotel in Ikoyi. There were at least some fifteen or so heavily armed security personnel. They looked sufficient to take over a small neighbouring city like Benin”, he stated.

Soyinka said the scene alarmed him enough to attempt reaching the National Security Adviser to confirm whether the deployment was official.

“I was so astonished that I started looking for the national security adviser. I said I have seen something I cannot believe. I asked if a child of the head of state goes around with an army for his protection”, Soyinka said.

He added that further inquiries showed the large security escort was not unusual.

“Later on, I did some investigative journalism and I found that apparently this is how this young man goes around,” he said.

Soyinka then joked that President Tinubu did not need to mobilise the military to quell instability in neighbouring Benin Republic, suggesting that the security personnel attached to his son were enough to subdue an uprising.

“Tinubu did not have to send the air force and the military to deal with that insurrection. There is an easier way. The president should just call that young man and say, Seyi, go and put down those people. You have troops under your command”, he noted.

He stressed that while leaders across the world have children, public office must not be used to confer undue power or privilege on them.

“This is not the first country whose head of state has a family. Children should know their place. They are not potentates. They are not heads of state”, he stressed.

Soyinka said such displays of force distort the country’s security priorities.

According to him, “The security architecture of a nation suffers when we see such heavy devotion of security to one young individual.

Soyinka’s remarks coincide with a dramatic security intervention by Nigeria in neighbouring Republic of Benin, where a recent coup attempt threatened the government of Patrice Talon.

The coup, launched by a small faction of mutinous soldiers, attempted to seize key state institutions including the national television station.

Government forces, backed by air support from Nigeria, quickly moved to suppress the uprising.

On December 9 2025 the Nigerian Senate formally approved a request by Bola Tinubu to deploy troops to Benin in support of its government.

The move is grounded in constitutional duty and the principle of regional security cooperation under ECOWAS.

Several fighter jets from the Nigerian Air Force were deployed soon after the Beninese government’s request for urgent air support.

The jets reportedly struck mutineers’ positions, aiding loyalist forces to retake control of critical facilities.

Ground forces from ECOWAS member states, including Nigerian troops, were also mobilised as a standby force to reinforce constitutional order in Benin.

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