Moment 'ousted' Gabon president makes desperate plea for help from palatial home
This is the moment Gabon's President Ali Bongo has pleaded for help from his house arrest as mutinous soldiers have seized power in the oil-rich Central African country.
In a video apparently from detention in his residence, President Ali Bongo Ondimba called on people to "make noise" to support him. Earlier, army officers appeared on TV to say they had taken power and said they were annulling the results of Saturday's election in which Mr Bongo was declared the winner. As locals celebrated the coup, Western powers decried it.
But the crowds who took to the streets of the capital celebrated the coup attempt against the rulers who is accused of getting rich on the country's resource wealth while many of its citizens struggle. "Thank you, army. Finally, we've been waiting a long time for this moment," said Yollande Okomo, standing near soldiers from Gabon's elite republican guard, one of the units that staged the takeover.
Gabonese soldiers appearing on television (Gabon 24/AFP via Getty Images)In his video message, Mr Bongo confirmed he was under house arrest. He said in English: "My son is somewhere, my wife is in another place... Nothing is happening. I don't know what is going on." One of the soldiers said they had "put an end to the current regime" because of "irresponsible, unpredictable governance resulting in a continuing deterioration in social cohesion that risks leading the country into chaos".
Another group of mutinous soldiers attempted a coup in 2019 but were quickly overpowered. The former French colony is a member of Opec, but its oil wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few and many young people are unemployed. Nine members of the Bongo family are under investigation in France, and some face preliminary charges of embezzlement, money laundering and other forms of corruption, according to Sherpa, a French NGO dedicated to accountability.
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President Ali Bongo Ondimba sitting in his residence in Libreville, Gabon (AP)Investigators have linked the family to more than £72 million in properties in France, including two villas in Nice, the group says. A
In a later statement, the coup leaders said people around the president had been arrested for "high betrayal of state institutions, massive embezzlement of public funds (and) international financial embezzlement". The coup attempt is the latest in a series of coups across West and Central Africa in recent years.
Minutes after Mr Bongo was declared the winner earlier today, gunfire was heard in the centre of the capital, Libreville. Later, a dozen uniformed soldiers appeared on state television and announced that they had seized power. Libreville is a stronghold of support for the opposition, but it was unclear how the coup attempt was seen in the countryside, where more people traditionally back Mr Bongo.
People display the Gabon national flag as they gather to celebrate in the streets (STRINGER/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)"If a military dictatorship replaces Bongo's dictatorship, the Gabonese population would lose again," said Thomas Borrel, a spokesman for the Paris-based human rights group Survie, which advocates against France's interventionist policies in Africa. Flights were cancelled out of Gabon's main airport and the private intelligence firm Ambrey said all operations at the country's main port in Libreville had been halted.
Several French companies said they were suspending operations and moving to ensure the safety of their staff. "France condemns the military coup that is underway in Gabon and is closely monitoring developments in the country," French government spokesman Olivier Veran said. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the events in Gabon were being followed with "great concern".
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