A group of senior military officials appeared on Gabonese national television on the morning of Wednesday, August 30, and announced the seizure of power. This came minutes after the country's electoral commission announced that President Ali Bongo had been re-elected to a third term.
Reuters reports this.
The officers said they represented all security and defense forces in the Central African country. They said the election results had been overturned, all borders had been closed until further notice and government institutions had been dissolved.
Loud sounds of gunfire could be heard in the capital Libreville, a Reuters reporter said after the military appeared on television.
There have been no reports of the whereabouts of Bongo, who was last seen in public when he voted in the election on Saturday.
“In the name of the Gabonese people... we have decided to defend peace by putting an end to the current regime,” the military said in a statement.
While one officer read the joint statement, about a dozen others stood silently behind him in military uniform and berets. The servicemen introduced themselves as members of a special Committee.
