Military officials from Gabon declared they were “putting an end to the current regime” and invalidating president Ondimba’s election.

Ali Bongo, the president of Gabon, is shown in a video urging his “friends” to “make noise” following a military takeover in the oil-rich Central African nation.

In the audio shared on social media, he stated, sounding distressed, “I’m sending a message to all friends that we have all over the world to tell them to make noise for (…) the people here who arrested me and my family. Where and when the footage was recorded are unknown to AFP.

Ondimba’s election had been cancelled hours earlier when a group of Gabonese military officials declared they were “putting an end to the current regime” on television.

The announcement was being made when shooting could be heard in Libreville, the capital of Gabon.

One of the officers declared that “all the institutions of the republic” had been dissolved as he announced the revocation of the election results.

An officer read the speech while being accompanied by several dozen army colonels, special Republican Guard soldiers, regular soldiers, and others.

It happened just after the national election administration announced that Bongo had received 64.27 percent of the vote on Saturday, winning a third term.

AFP