GABON REOPENS BORDER THREE DAYS AFTER COUP
Gabon has reopened its borders three days after a military coup.
An army spokesman on Saturday made this known, three days after closing them during a military coup in which President Ali Bongo was ousted, according to Reuters.
Military officers led by General Brice Nguema seized power on Wednesday, placed Bongo under house arrest and installed Nguema as head of state, ending the Bongo family’s 56-year hold on power.
The coup – the eighth in West and Central Africa in three years – has raised concerns about a contagion of military takeovers across the region that have erased democratic progress made in the last two decades.
Coup leaders have come under international pressure to restore civilian government but said last night that they would not rush to hold elections.
The land, sea and air borders were opened because the junta was “concerned with preserving respect for the rule of law, good relations with our neighbors and all states of the world” and wanted to keep its “international commitments”, the army spokesman said on national television.
Bongo was elected in 2009, taking over from his late father Omar, who came to power in 1967. Opponents say the family did little to share Gabon’s oil and mining wealth.
The takeover in Gabon follows coups in Guinea, Chad and Niger, plus two each in Mali and Burkina Faso since 2020, worrying international powers with strategic interests at stake.
More Stories
EFCC HANDS OVER $22,000 RECOVERED FROM CONVICTED FRAUDSTER TO FBI
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, on Friday, handed over $22,000 recovered from a convicted internet fraudster, Hakeem Olanrewaju, to...
TROOPS FOIL KIDNAP ATTEMPT, NEUTRALISE IPOB/ESN MEMBERS, RECOVER WEAPONS
Troops of Operation UDO KA on Friday 17 May 2024 foiled an attempted kidnap of another law-abiding South Easterner (names...
POLICE ARREST THREE FOR ROBBERY IN ENUGU
The Enugu State Police Command has arrested three suspects for alleged armed robbery in the Enugu metropolis and Oji-River axis...
NEDC MOVES TO REDUCE SECONDARY SCHOOL DROPOUT, IMPROVE STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE
The NorthEast Development Commission (NEDC) has initiated a programme to reduce the number of post-primary dropouts due to the decline...
POLICE ARREST NASARAWA VARSITY UNDERGRADUATE FOR RAPING CO-STUDENT
The Nasarawa State Police Command has arrested one Gabriel David, a 400-level student at the State University, Keffi, for allegedly...
MINIMUM WAGE: N45,000 UNREALISTIC, NO WORKER CAN SURVIVE LESS THAN N100K – SHEHU SANI
Shehu Sani, a former Senator representing Kaduna Central, has revealed that the proposed N45,000 minimum wage by the Federal Government...