Coup in Gabon: Army takes over power, dissolves all institutions 

By
ZAINAB TANIMU
-
724
This image taken from video shows Gabonese soldiers appearing on television on August 30, 2023 announcing they had seized power in Gabon [Gabon 24/AFP]
Visit Example Website

 Coup in Gabon: Army takes over power, dissolves all institutions

Zainab Tanimu

Kaduna, Northwest Nigeria

Army officers have appeared on national television in Gabon to say they have taken power.

Visit Example Website

They said they were annulling the results of Saturday’s election, in which President Ali Bongo was declared the winner.

The electoral commission said Mr Bongo had won just under two-thirds of the votes in an election the opposition argued was fraudulent.

Visit Example Website

His overthrow would end his family’s 53-year hold on power in Gabon.

Twelve soldiers were reported to have appeared on television announcing they were cancelling the results of the election.

Vanguard reports that during the announcement, AFP journalists heard gunfire ring out in the Gabonese capital, Libreville.

While announcing the cancellation of the results one of the soldiers said “all the institutions of the republic” had been dissolved.
“We have decided to defend peace by putting an end to the current regime”, one of the soldiers said on TV channel Gabon 24, adding that he was speaking on behalf of the “Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions”.
“To this end, the general elections of 26 August 2023 and the truncated results are cancelled,” he added.
“All the institutions of the republic are dissolved: the government, the Senate, the National Assembly and the Constitutional Court,” he added, announcing the closure of the country’s borders “until further notice”.
Among the soldiers were members of the Republican Guard as well as soldiers of the regular army and police officers

See also  South -East Nigeria:  Unknown  Gunmen Strike, Kill Ex-Enugu High Court Judge
Visit Example Website

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR