Nigeria sends jets and troops into Benin to crush coup bid, Tinubu confirms

Nigeria has openly taken the role of first responder in West Africa again, this time crossing into Benin to help foil an attempted coup. President Bola Tinubu confirmed Sunday that he authorised fighter jets and later ground forces to support Benin’s government after what he says were two formal requests from President Patrice Talon’s administration, including one for “immediate Nigerian air support”.

According to Tinubu’s office, Nigerian aircraft entered Benin airspace to “take over the airspace to help dislodge the coup plotters from the National TV and a military camp where they had regrouped”. Ground troops followed for “the protection of constitutional institutions and the containment of armed groups”. Tinubu praised Nigerian forces, saying they helped “stabilise a neighbouring country”.

The announcement landed just after Talon appeared on Beninese TV declaring the attempt defeated. Government loyalists, he said, “stood firm, recaptured our positions, and cleared the last pockets of resistance held by the mutineers”. His message was sharp: “This treachery will not go unpunished.”

He expressed condolences to victims and noted that some individuals remain held by fleeing soldiers, without giving specifics. Authorities have already detained 14 suspects. A security source told AFP all but one are active-duty soldiers, with one ex-military figure also held. It remains unclear whether alleged coup leader Lieutenant Colonel Pascal Tigri is among them.

Benin, usually seen as one of the region’s steadier democracies, hasn’t had a successful coup since 1972. The attempt comes against the backdrop of a neighbourhood where juntas have toppled governments in Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea and recently Guinea-Bissau. A reminder that democratic backsliding in West Africa is now more pattern than anomaly.

Foreign Minister Olushegun Adjadi Bakari told Reuters the plotters only managed to briefly capture state television before loyal forces reversed the takeover. Residents in Cotonou reported gunfire early in the day, though the city has since calmed.