https://bnonews.com/index.php/2019/01/military-coup-underway-in-gabon/
Breaking News
Military coup underway in Gabon
Published
3 hours ago
on
January 7, 2019
By
BNO News
Gabon President Ali Bongo Ondimba addresses the UN General Assembly in September 2017. (Credit: UN/Cia Pak)
UPDATE: The situation is under control and 4 coup soldiers have been arrested, a government spokesman has said, according to RFI. He said one person is still being sought and calls them a group of “jokers.”
Soldiers in Gabon have launched a coup d’etat while the country’s president, Ali Bongo, is undergoing medical treatment in Morocco. Gunfire has been reported in the capital.
A soldier who identified himself as Lieutenant Kelly Ondo Obiang was heard on national radio on early Monday morning, saying he and his supporters were disappointed by Bongo’s message to the nation on New Year’s Eve.
Obiang said his group was setting up a “restoration council” to restore democracy and urged his fellow soldiers to get weapons to take control of military bases, security checkpoints, airports, and other forms of transportation.
“[We] and security forces concerned with saving democracy and preserving the integrity of the national territory and national cohesion have decided to take our responsibility,” said Obiang, who was flanked by two armed soldiers.
It’s unknown if the group has wide support in the armed forces, but gunfire was heard in several parts of the capital Libreville and armored vehicles were spotted in the street. Helicopters were seen flying over the city.
Internet services were cut just after 8 a.m., according to local media and Internet Without Borders. Several neighborhoods in Libreville were also reporting power outages, but the cause was not immediately known.
A source close to the presidency told Radio France Internationale (RFI) that all strategic points were under the control of pro-government forces. A spokesman for the presidency said he would make a statement “shortly,” according to Reuters.
Bongo has been in power since a disputed election in 2009 to succeed his father, Omar Bongo, who ruled the oil-rich nation for 42 years. The vote in 2016 was also disputed after results showed that Bongo won by just 6,000 votes, with a claimed turnout of 99.9% in his home province, of which 95% went to Bongo.
Jean Ping, who faced Bongo in the 2016 election, continues to claim the presidency and held a rally on November 3. He also wished people a happy new year in a statement that referred to him as the “President of the Republic.”
Bongo was hospitalized in Saudi Arabia in October for an apparent stroke and was later transferred to Morocco. Bloomberg reported in November that his absence was creating a power vacuum in the central African nation.
The coup attempt comes less than a week after U.S. President Donald Trump deployed 80 soldiers to Gabon in case U.S. citizens need rescue if election-related violence breaks out in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
