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.
In its first foreign military intervention in nearly a decade, Nigeria was motivated by fears of an unfriendly regime taking charge in its backyard, potentially allowing violence to spill across its borders, analysts said.
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 Ahmed Tinubu’s government condemned the coup and called for a return to constitutional order.
(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)
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