Troops, including soldiers from neighbouring Nigeria, are to support the government and protect the country’s constitutional order, ECOWAS said in a statement.

Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said in a statement that the Nigerian air force had been operating at Benin’s request to secure the airspace and carry out rapid missions in coordination with the neighbouring country.

The forces had acted under the ECOWAS mandate and thereby defended constitutional order in Benin, he said.

Benin had also requested ground troops to protect the government and counter armed groups, and Nigerian ground forces are now already in the country, Tinubu added.

Nigerian fighter jets helped drive the coup plotters from the state television building and from a military base, the statement said.

Media reports said there were explosions following suspected airstrikes in the port city of Cotonou, where the government is based.

Benin’s President Patrice Talon said on Sunday evening that the situation was now fully under control, according to media reports.

He thanked the armed forces and military leadership for remaining loyal to the country and the constitution.

The coup attempt would not go unpunished, he said on state television.

Shots had earlier been heard near the presidential palace.

A group of military officers seized the national television broadcaster and declared Talon deposed.

The soldiers said the country’s borders had been closed and Lt.-Col. Pascal Tigri had been appointed president of a “military reconstruction commission.”

Source: dpa/NAN

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The role of the Nigerian Army in dislodging the coup plotters in Benin Republic was made known on Sunday in a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga.

The presidential aide said his principal, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had commended the gallantry of Nigeria’s military for responding swiftly to the request by the Government of Benin Republic.

The response, the president was quoted as saying, saved Benin Republic’s 35-year-old democracy from coup plotters who struck at dawn.

He said acting on two separate requests from the Government of Benin, President Tinubu first ordered Nigerian Air Force fighter jets to enter the country and take over the airspace to help dislodge the coup plotters from the National TV and a military camp where they had regrouped.

He said the Republic of Benin, through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a Note Verbal, also requested immediate Nigerian air support “in view of the urgency and seriousness of the situation and to safeguard the constitutional order, protect national institutions and ensure the security of the population.”

In the second request, the authorities in Benin was said to have requested the deployment of Nigerian Air Force assets within Beninoise airspace for surveillance and rapid intervention operations under Benin-led coordination.

The Benin government also requested Nigerian ground forces, “strictly for missions approved by the Beninese Command authority in support of the protection of constitutional institutions and the containment of armed Groups.”

Onanuga said Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede, said all the requests had been fulfilled, with Nigerian ground forces already in Benin.

“Ours is to comply with the order of the Commander-in-Chief of our armed forces, President Tinubu,” he was quoted as saying.

Onanuga said constitutional order was upended in the Republic of Benin, Nigeria’s neighbour, when some soldiers led by Colonel Pascal Tigri announced a coup on Sunday morning.

The putschists seized the National TV and claimed they had toppled President Patrice Talon and suspended all democratic institutions.

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.

In his remarks after the restoration of the democratic and constitutional order,  President Tinubu saluted the Nigerian armed forces for standing firm as a protector and defender of democracy.

“Today, the Nigerian armed forces stood gallantly as a defender and protector of constitutional order in the Republic of Benin on the invitation of the government. Our armed forces acted within the ambit of the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance. They have helped stabilise a neighbouring country and have made us proud of their commitment to sustaining our democratic values and ideals since 1999. Nigeria stands firmly with the government and people of the Republic of Benin.”

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The post How Nigerian army dislodged Benin coup plotters –Presidency appeared first on Frontpageng.

A statement issued by the commission on Sunday in Abuja said ECOWAS condemned the failed coup, describing it as a subversion of the will of the people of Benin.

It pledged to support the government and people of Benin Republic in all forms necessary, including military deployment in the country to defend its constitution and territorial integrity.

“ECOWAS Commission has received with consternation reports of an attempted military take-over in the Republic of Benin.

“ECOWAS strongly condemns this unconstitutional move that represents a subversion of the will of the people of Benin.

“ECOWAS will support the government and the people in all forms necessary, including the deployment of the regional standby force, to defend the constitution and the territorial integrity of Benin,” the statement said.

While saluting the successful efforts of the government of Benin and the Republican Army in bringing the situation under control, it called for the full respect of the country’s constitution.

It said it would hold the leaders of the plot both individually and collectively responsible for any loss to life and property occasioned by their action.

Earlier on Sunday, Benin local media reported that the coup was orchestrated by a group of soldiers led by Lt.-Col. Pascal Tigri, who declared himself their leader on national television.

However, hours later, Benin’s Interior Minister, Alassane Seidou, announced that the country’s armed forces had thwarted the attempted coup and regained control.

Benin’s President, Patrice Talon, first took office in 2016 and was re-elected in 2021.

The coup attempt to topple Talon is one in a list of others in the ECOWAS sub-region following a recent incident in Guinea-Bissau.

Others were in the Sahel states of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, who have all exited the regional bloc.

Source: NAN

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