Leaders of the Gabon coup choose a new leader

The Central African Union’s ECCAS states that it “firmly” condemns the military coup in Libreville and is reviewing its options for retaliation.

After President Ali Bongo was overthrown in a coup on Wednesday, members of the Gabonese Armed Forces named General Brice Oligui Nguema, the commander of the Republican Guard, as the new leader of the Central African nation.

Local media reported that Nguema was picked to serve as the head of the transition committee for the former French colony following a meeting of the main commanders of the Security and Safety Forces.

The coup commander was carried through the streets of Libreville prior to his appointment by ecstatic soldiers. Prior to working with Ali Bongo, Nguema worked for the long-time former president of the nation, Omar Bongo.

Army officers from the oil-rich African nation said earlier on Wednesday that they had taken control of Libreville on national television.

The declaration was made immediately after the Gabonese Election Centre (CGE) reported that Bongo had received 64.27% of the vote in the presidential election, winning a third term.

The coup leaders stated that the election results had been nullified and that all official institutions had been abolished, effectively ending the Bongo family’s nearly 60 years of dominance.

The deposed president had been placed under house arrest, according to a later announcement from the coup’s leaders, while his son Noureddin Bongo Valentin and a number of other government officials had been detained for “high treason.”

Nguema, who spoke on behalf of the coup leaders in the hours after the military takeover, informed the French newspaper Le Monde that the jailed Bongo was “retired,” but would “enjoy all his rights” as a “normal Gabonese.”

Despite throngs in Libreville and other parts of the 2.3 million-person country celebrating his overthrow, Bongo has pleaded for help from the local and global communities.

In a statement released on Thursday, the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the political organisation of Central Africa, denounced the coup.

The group denounced the “use of force as a means of resolving political conflicts and access to power.” It announced a “imminent” gathering of regional leaders in charge of peace and security and other matters to decide “the way forward.”