Gabonese jubilate in large numbers as military ends Bongo’s family 56-years rule

By Samuel Ogunsona

Thousands of Gabonese responded to the military coup in Gabon with jubilation as they rally around the street of Libreville.

The protesters storm the street on Wednesday in solidarity with the coup plotters who rejected the election results that declared president Ali Bongo the winner of the just concluded general election.

In a statement by one of the 12 senior officers who plotted the coup said they are committed to respect the Gabonese commitments to national and international community and to defend peace by putting an end to the current regime.

A military spokesman declared, “The country is undergoing severe institutional, political, economic and social crises.” He stated the coup’s goal is “to defend the peace by ending the current regime.”

“We have decided to defend the 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 canceled,” 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”.