The army announces a coup d’état. There are tanks and armed vehicles in the streets of the capital, Libreville, and a curfew imposed.
In a statement read on Gabonese national radio and television, a group of young officers known as the Patriotic Youth Movement in Defence and Security es the inability of President Ali Bongo to lead the country.
This movement “concerned with saving democracy in danger and preserving national integrity and cohesion has decided to take its responsibilities in order to defeat the maneuvers aimed at the confiscation of power,” said the soldier who read the statement.
He also affirmed that “it is to take our destiny in hand, this day has arrived”. A witness, joined in Gabon says that since 3am, shots are heard in several neighbourhoods of Libreville.
The main roads leading to the city centre are blocked. National radio and television journalists say they are being held hostage. Currently the situation is calm, says this witness.
Our efforts to contact the Gabonese authorities is without success.
