ABUJA, Dec. 8– At Benin’s request, Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered Nigerian armed forces to help Benin dislodge coup plotters, the president’s office said in a statement on Sunday.
Benin requested immediate Nigerian air support, the deployment of Nigerian Air Force assets within Beninese airspace, and the Nigerian ground forces, to help protect Benin’s constitutional order and institutions, and ensure the security of the population, it said.
Nigeria’s Chief of Defense Staff Olufemi Oluyede said that all the requests had been fulfilled.
“It took some hours before the government’s loyal forces, assisted by Nigeria, took control and flushed out the coup plotters from the National TV,” said the statement.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission on Sunday said that it had ordered the deployment of the ECOWAS standby force to Benin, which was composed of troops from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, to assist the government and military in maintaining the country’s constitutional order and territorial integrity.
Earlier in the day, a group of soldiers in Benin announced on state broadcaster Benin TV that President Patrice Talon had been “removed from office.”
A few hours after the announcement of the coup attempt, Benin’s Minister of Interior and Public Security Alassane Seidou said that its armed forces had foiled an attempted mutiny aimed at destabilizing the state and its institutions. (Namibia Daily News/Xinhua)
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