The ongoing conflict over crude oil exports has significantly intensified, leading to an increase in tensions between Benin and Niger. This worsened with the arrest of five Nigerien citizens at a crucial pipeline terminal in Benin. The people were arrested on suspicion of accessing Benin’s Seme-Kpodji pipeline terminal under pretenses. This has caused a rift in relations between the two West African countries on a diplomatic level.
The crew was detained by Beninese officials on Wednesday and charged with breaking into the pipeline site covertly. At least two of the people in custody, according to Benin’s Special Prosecutor Mario Metonou, are operatives of the junta in charge of Niger. Metonou emphasized that the arrests were a component of larger inquiries meant to identify any dangers to the security of the state of Benin. “An investigation is being conducted to ascertain the true motivations… in a context where recurring information suggests the planning of acts against the security of the state of Benin,” Metonou stated in a press release on Thursday.
In a swift response, Niger’s Oil Minister Mahamane Moustapha Barke Bako, during a press conference in Niamey on Thursday, vehemently denied the allegations made by Benin’s prosecutor. Minister Bako insisted that the arrested individuals were inspectors tasked with supervising the loading of crude oil as part of an existing agreement with Benin. He described the arrests as a misunderstanding that needs immediate attention.
A complicated web of political and economic concerns surround these arrests. Since May, when Benin stopped allowing landlocked Niger to export crude through its ports, relations between the two countries have been tense. Before exports could resume, Benin insisted that the junta in Niger restore relations and reopen its borders to its goods.
The matter is still unsolved even after an initial agreement was reached on May 15 to temporarily relax the export restriction and arrange a conference to find a long-term solution. The breach has only gotten wider as a result of the recent arrests, which could have an impact on the stability and economic activity of the area.
To make things even more complicated, the minister of justice for Niger signaled a move toward a judicial settlement by announcing plans to take the subject before the arbitration court of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa. The battle began with a coup in Niger in July 2023, which prompted the ECOWAS regional bloc to impose harsh sanctions that lasted for more than six months. ECOWAS dropped these restrictions in the hopes that commerce would return to normalcy, but Niger has continued to close its borders with Benin, obstructing trade and escalating tensions between the two countries.
An agreement between Niger and the Chinese state-owned China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) was put in jeopardy by the crude blockade. This agreement involved spending $400 million to begin exporting oil from Niger’s Agadem oilfield through the nearly 2,000 km pipeline backed by PetroChina, which was officially launched in November and connected Niger’s Agadem oilfield to the coast of Benin.
