Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has confirmed deploying fighter jets and ground troops to neighbouring Benin to help foil a coup attempt by a group of Beninese soldiers.In a statement on Sunday, Tinubu’s office said Nigeria’s military intervened in Benin after President Patrice Talon’s government issued two requests for help, including for “immediate Nigerian air support”.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listTinubu first ordered Nigerian fighter jets to enter Benin and “take over the airspace to help dislodge the coup plotters from the National TV and a military camp where they had regrouped”, the statement said.Nigeria’s military sent in ground troops later, after Benin’s government asked for their support in “the protection of constitutional institutions and the containment of armed groups”, it said.Tinubu praised his troops and said they had helped “stabilise a neighbouring country”.The Nigerian statement came shortly after Talon, the president of Benin, appeared on national television and said his security forces had successfully blocked the attempt to overthrow his government.Talon promises punishmentTalon said forces loyal to him “stood firm, recaptured our positions, and cleared the last pockets of resistance held by the mutineers”.“This commitment and mobilisation enabled us to defeat these adventurers and to prevent the worst for our country,” he said. “This treachery will not go unpunished.”The Benin president added that his thoughts were with the victims of the coup attempt as well as with a number of people who have been held by the fleeing mutineers. Advertisement He did not give details.The unrest was the latest threat …
