About 200 West African soldiers in Benin for 'clean-up' after failed coup5 hours ago Share Save Wycliffe Muia Share SaveAFP via Getty Images Benin says it requested Nigeria's military intervention to avert civilian casualtiesSome 200 West African soldiers, mainly from Nigeria and Ivory Coast, are in Benin to support the government following Sunday's failed coup, Benin's foreign minister says. The West African regional bloc, Ecowas, deployed troops from Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Ivory Coast to secure key installations and prevent any resurgence of the violence. Nigeria, Benin's large neighbour to the east, said its soldiers had reached there on Sunday, describing the coup attempt as a "direct assault on democracy". Tuggar said that fast diplomatic, military, and intelligence actions between Nigeria and Benin had helped to foil the coup. It is not clear if the French special forces who also reportedly helped loyalist troops thwart the coup are still in Benin.