By MacDonald Dzirutwe and Robbie Corey-Boulet

LAGOS, Dec 8 – Nigerian fighter jets and ground troops moved on Monday to help restore order after a foiled coup attempt in Benin, 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 military regime taking charge in its backyard, potentially allowing violence to spill across its borders, analysts said.

President Bola Tinubu sent fighter jets to assert control over Benin’s airspace on Sunday as his close ally, Benin President Patrice Talon, tried to put down the coup attempt by what officials described as a small group of soldiers.

Tinubu’s office said the

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