BREAKING: Another Coup D’état In Gabon, as Military announce power seizure, dissolves Institutions of Govt
Reports reaching the Nigeria Standard has it that a group of Gabonese Military officers have appeared on national TV in Gabon to announced that they have seized power in the central African nation, shortly after the results of last weekend general election were announced.
Loud gunfire was reported across Libreville, the Gabonese capital in the early hours of Wednesday.
About 12 Gabonese soldiers took over a television channel’s broadcast to announce that they were dissolving “all the institutions of the republic” and said they represented all security and defence forces in Gabon.
A soldier on TV channel Gabon 24 declared: “We have decided to defend peace by putting an end to the current regime.”
The military also announced that all borders of the country have been closed until further notice.
The apparent coup comes as president Ali Bongo was declared the winner of the country’s 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.
The seizure of power by the Gabonese army would end the Bongo family’s five-decade grip on power in the country.
Mr Bongo took the reins of the nation in 2009 after the death of his father Omar Bongo, who ruled the country for 42 years.
