The military coup attempt in Gabon has been foiled today, arresting several plotters few hours after they took over state radio in a bid to end 50 years of rule by President Ali Bongo’s family.
Government spokesman Guy-Bertrand Mapangou told Reuters that four of the five officers who had taken over the state radio in the capital Libreville were arrested. A fifth officer fled and is being pursued, he said.
Daily Family had reported that Lieutenant Kelly Ondo Obiang, who described himself as an officer in the Republican Guard, speaking on the radio early this morning said Bongo’s New Year’s Eve address from Morocco, where he is recovering from a stroke, “reinforced doubts about the president’s ability to continue to carry out of the responsibilities of his office”.
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Outside the radio station, loyalist soldiers fired tear gas to disperse about 300 people who had come out into the streets to support the coup attempt, a Reuters witness said. Helicopters circled overhead.
Most of the beachside capital was quiet, however, and a government spokesman said the situation was under control after the arrests.
“The government is in place. The institutions are in place,” Mapangou told France 24.
The Bongo family has ruled the oil-producing country since 1967. Bongo has been president since succeeding his father, Omar, who died in 2009. His re-election in 2016 was marred by claims of fraud and violent protest.
In a tweet on Monday, African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat condemned the coup attempt.
“I reaffirm the AU’s total rejection of all unconstitutional changes of power,” he said.
