The military in Gabon says it has seized power and placed President Ali Bongo under house arrest, a move that threatens the end of more than five decades in power for the Bongo family.
A dozen senior officers appeared on national TV to delare the coup, stepping in minutes after the central African state's election body announced Mr Bongo had won a third term in a disputed election. Around the time of the announcement, gunfire was heard in the centre of the Gabon capital Libreville.
The soldiers, who said they represented the armed forces, declared on television that the election results were cancelled, borders were closed and state institutions were dissolved. The Gabon officers, calling themselves The Committee of Transition and the Restoration of Institutions, said the country faced "a severe institutional, political, economic, and social crisis". They said the vote on Saturday was not credible.
In another statement, the officers said they had detained Mr Bongo, who took over in 2009 from his father Omar, who had ruled since 1967. They said they had arrested the president's son, Noureddin Bongo Valentin, and others over allegations corruption and treason. Opponents say the family has done little to share the state's oil and mining wealth with its 2.3 million people. Violent unrest broke out after Mr Bongo's disputed 2016 election win and there was a foiled coup attempt in 2019.
One of the officers, Brice Oligui Nguema, who in a video appeared to be hailed as their leader, told French newspaper Le Monde that he and other generals would meet on late on Wednesday to select someone to head the transitional government. "Everyone will put forward ideas and the best ones will be chosen, as well as the name of the person who will lead the transition," he said.
Hundreds of people took to the streets in Libreville to celebrate the apparent end of Mr Bongo’s government amid widespread frustration over rising costs of living and other issues.
"I am marching today because I am joyful. After almost 60 years, the Bongos are out of power," Jules Lebigui, a jobless 27-year-old, told Reuters, having joined crowds on the streets of the capital. Gabon is a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), with a production of some 181,000 barrels of crude a day, but its population face high unemployment. Nearly 40 per cent of Gabonese aged between 15 and 24 were out of work in 2020, according to the World Bank.
Mr Bongo pleaded for support, appearing in a video showing him sat in a chair with a bookshelf behind him. He said he was in his residence and his wife and son were in different places. "I'm calling you to make noise, to make noise, to make noise really," he said.
The apparent coup came shortly after Mr Bongo was declared the winner in a recent presidential election, handing him a third term in power. The results of the elections had been delayed since Saturday as the opposition claimed it was marred by fraud. A lack of international observers, the suspension of some foreign broadcasts and a decision to cut internet service and impose a night-time curfew after the poll had raised concerns about the vote's transparency, although Mr Bongo's team rejected allegations of fraud.
After the officers' announcement, internet access appeared to be restored for the first time since Saturday's vote.
The seizure of power by the Gabonese army would end the Bongo family’s almost 55-years grip on power in the country.
Gabon’s president Ali Bongo Ondimba and his wife Sylvia— (Getty)
If successful, the Gabon coup would be the eighth in West and Central Africa since 2020. The latest one, in Niger, was in July. Military officers have also seized power in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Chad, erasing democratic gains since the 1990s.
“If this is confirmed, it is another military coup which increases instability in the whole region,” said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, speaking at a meeting of EU defence ministers in Toledo.
“The whole area, starting with Central African Republic, then Mali, then Burkina Faso, now Niger, maybe Gabon, it’s in a very difficult situation and certainly the ministers ... have to have a deep thought on what is going on there and how we can improve our policy in respect with these countries,” he said.
He added that this instability in the region is a “big issue for Europe”.
In his annual Independence Day speech last month, Mr Bongo had said he would not allow Gabon to follow the path of Niger. "While our continent has been shaken in recent weeks by violent crises, rest assured that I will never allow you and our country Gabon to be hostages to attempts at destabilisation. Never," he said.
At a time when anti-France sentiment is spreading in many former colonies, the French-educated Mr Bongo met President Emmanuel Macron in Paris in late June and shared photos of them shaking hands. In the wake of the coup, French government spokesperson, Olivier Veran, said: "France condemns the military coup that is underway in Gabon and is closely monitoring developments in the country, and France reaffirms its wish that the outcome of the election, once known, be respected."
France has about 350 troops in Gabon. Its forces have been forced out of Mali and Burkina Faso in recent years.
Unlike Niger and other Sahel countries, Gabon, which lies further south on the Atlantic coast, has not had to battle destabilising Islamist insurgencies – but this latest coup merely adds to the volatility in the region.
The mutinous officers vowed to respect "Gabon's commitments to the national and international community."
Russia said it was also closely following the developments in the African nation, while China has called for a peaceful resolution. The chair of thge African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, has called on Gabon's army to ensure the safety of Mr Bongo and his family and condemned the attempted coup.
Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report
