Following the foiled coup attempt and stabilization of the Benin Republic, the Federal Government of Nigeria has withdrawn the deployed fighter jet. …
According to reports, the aircraft, deployed from Lagos for aerial surveillance and regional monitoring, were instructed to return to base on Sunday afternoon after updated intelligence confirmed that loyalist forces in Benin had re-established control and that there was no immediate threat to Nigeria’s territorial security.
Security analyst Zagazola Makama, on his X handle on Sunday, revealed that the coup attempt against President Patrice Talon was decisively foiled, with loyalist elements regaining full command of Cotonou before nightfall.
It will be recalled that the crisis began in the early hours when a group of mutineers in military uniforms launched an assault on the presidential residence.
Their attack was repelled, forcing the plotters to shift tactics. In a desperate move, they stormed the Office de Radiodiffusion et Télévision du Bénin (ORTB), seized the national broadcast hub, and attempted to take control of the state signal.
Meanwhile, as panic rippled through the capital, Benin’s security architecture responded swiftly.
Units of the National Guard and loyal troops mobilised, surrounding the ORTB headquarters and cutting off all exits as they moved to isolate the rebels.
By late Sunday, the government had secured major installations and restored order across the city.
“The situation is under control. The National Guard has everything surrounded,” a senior security official stated on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the ongoing operation.
However, a local media, including 24 Hours in Benin, reported that the mutineers remained barricaded inside the national television compound as of Sunday evening.
Authorities confirmed that negotiations were underway to persuade the holdouts to surrender peacefully.