At least 200 soldiers from Nigeria, Côte d'Ivoire in Benin for 'clean-up' after failed coup

Some 200 Nigerian and Côte d'Ivoire troops are in Benin as part of a security mission supporting the government after a weekend coup attempt, the country's foreign minister said on Thursday.

Benin was rocked by a failed putsch on Sunday, which saw Nigeria and Côte d'Ivoire mobilise in support of the civilian government.

"There are currently around 200 soldiers present, who came to lend a hand at the end of the day to the Beninese defence and security forces as part of the sweep and clean-up operation," Olushegun Adjadi Bakari told reporters at a press conference in the Nigerian capital.

According to a Côte d'Ivoire security source, fifty troops were sent as part of the deployment, which regional bloc ECOWAS has said will also include soldiers from Ghana and Sierra Leone.

Coup attempt 'already a failure'

Nigeria said its soldiers had reached Benin on Sunday.

Bakari said that by the time the Beninese forces called for help, the coup attempt "was already a failure."

"They attacked the president's house at around 3 am. Our national defence force blocked them," Bakari told reporters on the sidelines of an ongoing ECOWAS summit in Abuja.

"When we started discussions for the intervention of Nigeria and the others, under ECOWAS protocol, our military already pushed them back," he said. "It was already a failure, the coup."

'Surgical impact'

The Nigerian air force was called in to dislodge alleged putschists holed up in a military camp in a heavily populated area of Cotonou, with Beninese commanders worried that a gunfight could leave civilian casualties.

"President Talon requested aerial support from Nigeria to ensure we can have a surgical impact, destroy the armoured vehicles they have in this military barracks and ensure they cannot get out to take over the airport, et cetera," Bakari said.

He added how long the ECOWAS troops will stay will be decided "in the coming days."

"Their presence is in tight collaboration with Beninese defence and security forces," he said.