Conflicting reports emerged from Gabon on Monday concerning the possible overthrow of the government by the military.
The country’s military had earlier taken over the government in Gabon, with the central African country’s ailing leader, Ali Bongo, whose family has ruled the nation for 50 years, in hospital.
Soldiers in the central African country announced that they launched a coup “to restore democracy.”
The soldiers took control of Gabon’s national radio in the early hours of Monday and announced a “National Restoration Council.”
Some armed vehicles are on the streets of the capital Libreville.
Bongo suffered a stroke in October and received treatment in Morocco, and on New Year’s day he said he was well.
However, the military has described it as “a pitiful sight” and a “relentless attempt to cling onto power.”
Lieutenant Kelly Ondo Obiang, the leader of the self-declared Patriotic Movement of the Defence and Security Forces of Gabon, claimed the New Year’s speech “reinforced doubts about the president’s ability to continue to carry out the responsibilities of his office.”
But two hours later, a crowd of around 300 people gathered outside the building of Gabon’s national broadcaster in the capital Libreville after military personnel seized it.
But just hours after staging the bid to take down the government, four out of five of the officers were arrested, government spokesman Guy-Bertrand Mapangou said.
Insisting the coup had been squashed, Mr Mapangou said: “The government is in place. The institutions are in place.”
Shocking footage emerged earlier of Ondo Obiang wearing military fatigues and flanked by armed soldiers inside a radio station studio as he reads a statement that was broadcast nationally at 4.30 am.
The coup-leader said the takeover was being carried out against “those who, in a cowardly way, assassinated our young compatriots on the night of August 31, 2016.”
This was in reference to deadly riots that kicked off after President Bongo was declared the winner of the disputed elections in Gabon.
Mr Bongo, 59, was rushed to hospital in October after suffering an apparent stroke in Saudi Arabia.
In his speech in the New Year, he said that although he had suffered health problems for a few months, he is recovering well.
But critics said he appeared to be slurring his words and didn’t move his right arm, claiming it is evidence his health is deteriorating.
The Bongo family has ruled oil-rich Gabon for nearly half a century. Bongo has been president since succeeding his father, Omar, who died in 2009.
However, his re-election in 2016 was hit by allegations of fraud, with violent protests sweeping the country.
Daily Star