Gabon’s president has called on his citizens to “make noise” after a coup attempt in the Central African country, saying he was speaking from detention in his residence.Mutinous soldiers on Wednesday seized power to overturn the results of the presidential election and arrested the president whose family has held power for 53 years.
A coup has happened in Gabon as a group of senior military officers took over the government.
The coup in Gabon becomes the seventh coup in Africa since 2019.
According to media reports early Wednesday, the senior military officers made this known through an announcement on national television.
“In the name of the Gabonese people … we have decided to defend the peace by putting an end to the current regime,” Aljazeera quoted the officers as saying.
They said they seized power in the central African country because elections held over the weekend were not credible.