Army officers have announced on Gabonese national television, their claim of authority.
They claimed to be nullifying the election results from Saturday, in which President Ali Bongo was declared the victor.
The electoral commission reported that Mr. Bongo had received just under two-thirds of the vote in an election that the opposition argued was rigged.
The 53-year rule of his family over Gabon would come to an end if he were to be removed from office.
Nearly 90% of Gabon is covered in forests, and it one of Africa’s major oil producers.
Early on Wednesday morning, twelve soldiers appeared on television and declared they were dissolving “all the institutions of the republic” and canceling the election results.
The country’s borders had been shut “until further notice,” they added.
If successful, it would be the eighth coup to occur in one of the former French colonies in Africa in the last three years.
The majority of the others, on the other hand, have occurred further north in the Sahel region, where an Islamist insurgency has sparked an increase in complaints about the democratically elected governments’ poor protection of the civilian populace.
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne stated that her country was closely monitoring the situation, and the head of foreign policy for the European Union asserted that a military takeover would exacerbate instability in Africa.
“This is a big issue for Europe,” said Josep Borrell.
The French mining company Eramet, which has thousands of employees in Gabon, announced that it had halted all operations there due to security concerns.
The soldiers who made the apparent coup announcement claimed to be from the Committee of Transition and the Restoration of Institutions and represent security and defence forces in the country.
“We have decided to defend peace by putting an end to the current regime”, one of the soldiers declared on the television channel Gabon 24″.
He continued, attributing this to “irresponsible, unpredictable governance resulting in a continuing deterioration in social cohesion that risks leading the country into chaos”.
The sounds of loud gunfire could be heard in the country’s capital, Libreville, following the broadcast.
In spite of the soldiers’ announcement receiving no immediate response from the government, Mr. Bongo’s whereabouts remain a mystery.
Mr. Bongo assumed authority after the passing of his father Omar in 2009.
After having a stroke in 2018, calls for him to resign grew as a result of his near-year-long absence from work.
The following year, mutinous soldiers were imprisoned after a failed coup attempt.
Source-BBC
