A group of Gabon’s top military officers appeared on national television early Wednesday and said they had seized power minutes after the election commission announced President Ali Bongo had won a third term, Reuters reported.

Several officers appeared on television in Gabon and announced that they had seized powerPhoto: AFP / AFP / Profimedia

Speaking on Gabon TV, the 24 officers said they represented all the security and defense forces in the central African country.

They said that the election results had been annulled, that all borders had been closed until further notice and that government institutions had been dissolved. Loud gunfire was heard in the capital Libreville, a Reuters reporter said after the gunmen appeared on television.

There is no comment from the government of an OPEC country.

“On behalf of the people of Gabon … we have decided to protect the peace by putting an end to the current regime,” the conspirators said. As one officer read a joint statement, about a dozen other officers stood silently behind him, dressed in military uniform. .

The military members introduced themselves as members of the Committee on Transition and Restoration of Institutions. State institutions they declared dissolved include the government, the senate, the national assembly, the constitutional court and the electoral commission.

If successful, the coup would be the eighth in Central and West Africa since 2020. Coups in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Chad and Niger have undermined the democratic progress these countries have made in recent years. More recently, the military seized power in Niger last month, sending shockwaves across the Sahel and around the world.

Tensions were high in Gabon amid fears of unrest after Saturday’s presidential, parliamentary and legislative vote in which Bongo sought to retain power for his family for 56 years, while the opposition pushed for change in the oil- and cocoa-rich country, but plagued by poverty .

The absence of international observers, the suspension of some foreign stations, and the government’s decision to shut down Internet services and impose a night-time curfew across the country after the election raised concerns about the transparency of the election process.

Gabon’s electoral center announced on Wednesday that Bongo had won the election with 64.27% of the vote, while his main rival, Albert Ondo Ossa, came second with 30.77%.

Bongo, 64, who succeeded his father Omar as president in 2009, ran against 18 opponents, six of whom supported Ondo Ossu. Bongo’s team denied the allegations of fraud.