West African troops were deployed to Benin on Sunday after what the country\u2019s president described as an unsuccessful coup attempt.<\/p>\n
Benin\u2019s president, Patrice Talon, said on Sunday that the situation was \u201ctotally under control\u201d after security forces acted to end a coup attempt by a group of soldiers who attacked state institutions.<\/p>\n
But Ecowas \u2013 West Africa\u2019s regional bloc \u2013 said it had ordered the immediate deployment of elements of its standby force to the country, which has a population of about 14.5 million.<\/p>\n
Soldiers from Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Sierra Leone<\/a> were being sent to \u201csupport the government and the Republican Army of Benin to preserve constitutional order and the territorial integrity of the Republic of Benin\u201d, the bloc said in a statement.<\/p>\n Nigeria\u2019s air force also struck targets in Benin, the Nigerian president\u2019s office confirmed.<\/p>\n Responding to two requests from Benin\u2019s government, Nigeria\u2019s president, Bola Tinubu, \u201cordered 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,\u201d his office said.<\/p>\n Earlier on Sunday a group of soldiers had \u201claunched a mutiny\u201d, Benin\u2019s interior minister Alassane Seidou said, \u201cwith the aim of destabilising the state and its institutions\u201d.<\/p>\n The soldiers had appeared on Benin\u2019s state TV to announce the dissolution of the government in the latest of many coups and attempted coups in West Africa.<\/p>\n The group, which called itself the Military Committee for Refoundation, announced the removal of the president and all state institutions. Lt Col Pascal Tigri was appointed president of the military committee, the soldiers said.<\/p>\n Videograb from Benin TV footage shows soldiers from the Military Committee for Refoundation announcing the government\u2019s dissolution. Photograph: Benin TV\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n The rapid mobilisation of forces loyal to the government \u201callowed us to thwart these adventurers\u201d, Talon said in remarks aired on state TV after the government regained control of the broadcaster.<\/p>\n \u201cThis treachery will not go unpunished,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n The attempted coup was the latest threat to democratic rule in the region, where militaries have in recent years seized power in Benin\u2019s neighbours Niger and Burkina Faso, as well as in Mali, Guinea and, only last month, Guinea-Bissau<\/a>.<\/p>\n But it was a surprising development in Benin, where the last successful coup took place in 1972.<\/p>\n A government spokesperson, Wilfried L\u00e9andre Houngbedji, earlier said that 14 people had been arrested in connection with the coup attempt as of Sunday afternoon, without providing details.<\/p>\n The attempt came as Benin was preparing for a presidential election in April that would mark the end of the tenure of Talon, 67, who has held power since 2016.<\/p>\n In their televised statement, the coup plotters mentioned the deteriorating security situation in northern Benin \u201ccoupled with the disregard and neglect of our fallen brothers-in-arms\u201d.<\/p>\n