By MacDonald Dzirutwe, Robbie Corey-Boulet and Pulcherie Adjoha
COTONOU, Dec 8 (Reuters) – Nigerian fighter jets carried out airstrikes to thwart a coup bid in Benin in which mutinying soldiers tried to seize President Patrice Talon, according to an account provided by Benin’s government on Monday.
The soldiers got close enough for Talon to witness violent clashes firsthand, and they also managed to kidnap two senior military officials who were not released until Monday morning, according to the summary of Sunday’s coup attempt published after a cabinet meeting.
Nigeria had earlier acknowledged sending fighter jets and ground troops to its much smaller neighbour to help restore order, aiming to head off a political crisis in a country that is battling jihadists and serves as a key trade corridor in West Africa.
The mutinying soldiers, coming from the Togbin military base, started their attack before dawn on Sunday, first going to the home of General Bertin Bada, Talon’s military chief of staff, the statement said.
Bada’s wife was killed in the clashes that erupted, though Bada himself managed to escape, it said.
The soldiers did manage to seize General Abou Issa, the chief of staff of the army, and Colonel Faizou Gomina, who were freed Monday morning in the northern town of Tchaourou, the statement said.
The Nigerian strikes immobilised armoured vehicles and resulted in no loss of life, it said.
A special force from Ivory Coast arrived late Sunday “to position itself in Cotonou for further action if necessary,” it said.
No death toll was given, though the statement said there were casualties “on both sides” when the mutineers tried to seize Talon at his residence, clashing with members of the Republican Guard.
The government statement said the mutineers then moved from Talon’s residence to the state television station, which they controlled temporarily before being driven out.
They then returned to the Togbin military base, according to the statement, where they were surrounded by soldiers and targeted by air strikes.
The whereabouts of Colonel Tigri Pascal, identified as the coup leader, remain unknown.
NIGERIAN INTERVENTION
Nigeria last intervened abroad in 2017 when Gambian President Yahya Jammeh refused to step down after losing an election. The regional force deployed to Gambia did not engage in any fighting as Jammeh quickly capitulated.
Nigeria has responded far less aggressively to recent coups in Mali, Burkina Faso and neighbouring Niger. When soldiers toppled Guinea-Bissau’s president last month, President Bola Tinubu’s government condemned the coup and called for a return to constitutional order.
But the prospect of a hostile military-led government taking over in Benin, which borders Nigerian territory targeted by jihadist groups, was too much to stomach, said Mucahid Durmaz, senior Africa analyst at risk intelligence group Verisk Maplecroft.
“For Nigeria, a military coup and potential collapse of state order in Benin risk triggering cross-border insecurity, illicit trade and arms trafficking, potentially destabilising the southwest region, which the Nigerian economy is heavily reliant on,” Durmaz said.
Northern Benin has suffered repeated jihadist attacks, including major assaults in January and April that killed dozens of soldiers. This is despite the government sending thousands of troops since 2022 under its Operation Mirador to stabilise that territory, which borders Nigeria, Niger, Burkina Faso and Togo.
The coup plotters cited insecurity in the north as a justification for attempting the putsch, but for Nigeria, a change of power in Benin raised fears of being “surrounded by hostile and unpredictable neighbours,” Durmaz added.
ECOWAS, the regional bloc, “wants to show that they are doing something because they’ve been so completely inefficient in countering any of the coups that have taken place in the region during the past five years,” said Nina Wilen, director of the Africa Programme at the Egmont Institute for International Relations in Belgium.
Benin is preparing for a presidential election in April that is expected to mark the end of Talon’s tenure.
His finance minister, Romuald Wadagni, is the candidate for the ruling coalition and is seen as the heavy favourite.
In an address on state television late Sunday, Talon said armed forces had cleared out all coup plotters and vowed to punish them.
(Reporting by Macdonald Dzirutwe in Lagos, Robbie Corey-Boulet in Dakar and Pulcherie Adjoha in Cotonou; Writing by Robbie Corey-Boulet and Portia Crowe; Editing by Ros Russell, Andrew Heavens, Rod Nickel and Nick Zieminski)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.