Just IN: Gabon president calls for help after been placed under house arrest

Hours after being placed under house arrest by members of his presidential guard in an ongoing coup attempt on Wednesday, the deposed president of Gabon, Ali Bongo Ondimba, has appealed for assistance.

Ali Bongo encouraged the Gabonese people to “make noise” by confirming his arrest in a video that was shared on social media and confirmed by Al Jazeera.

People were reportedly celebrating and waving flags in the streets of Libreville, the capital of Gabon, according to Al Jazeera correspondents in Dakar.

The officers who planned the coup claimed to speak for all the country’s security and military personnel on state-run television station Gabon 24.

They claimed to be nullifying the election results from the previous day, in which President Ali Bongo was declared the victor.

The soldiers identified themselves as members of The Committee of Transition and Restoration of Institutions, saying, “We have decided to defend peace by overthrowing the regime in power.”.

According to the electoral commission, Albert Ondo Ossa, Bongo’s main rival, finished second with 30.77 percent of the vote. Ondo Ossa’s allegations of electoral fraud were denied by Bongo’s team

Additionally, they declared that state institutions had been disbanded, and all borders had been closed indefinitely.

Government, the senate, the national assembly, the constitutional court, and the electoral body were among the state institutions they deemed to be dissolved.

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