Item 1 of 6 Traffic moves along a road, a day after the country’s armed forces thwarted the attempted coup against the government of Benin’s President Patrice Talon, in Cotonou, Benin, on December 8, 2025. REUTERS/Charles Placide Tossou

[1/6]Traffic moves along a road, a day after the country’s armed forces thwarted the attempted coup against the government of Benin’s President Patrice Talon, in Cotonou, Benin, on December 8, 2025. REUTERS/Charles Placide Tossou Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tabNigeria launches rare military intervention abroadMutinying soldiers tried to seize Benin President TalonNigeria sees neighbour Benin as key to security and economy

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.

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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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MacDonald leads a team of reporters in Nigeria that covers energy, politics and economic news in Africa’s biggest oil producer. He writes stories on operations of international oil companies, widespread insecurity that is distabilising northern Nigeria and the state of the economy. MacDonald previously worked as senior correspondent in Zimbabwe. He was part of the team that won the Reuters Story of The Year for coverage of the 2018 military coup that ended Robert Mugabe’s nearly four decades rule.

Robbie Corey-Boulet is the bureau chief for West and Central Africa, based in Dakar and reporting on 23 countries. He has worked as a journalist for more than 15 years including as a freelancer in West Africa and as a correspondent and bureau chief for Agence France-Presse in Addis Ababa and Riyadh. Reach him at robbie.corey-boulet@thomsonreuters.com.