The attempted takeover followed days of mounting tensions, with President Bongo looking to extend his family’s 56-year grip on Gabon with a presidential vote on Saturday that the opposition declared was fraudulent.
INFORMATION NIGERIA learnt that Bongo’s father, Omar Bongo, became president in 1967; Mr. Bongo has been in power since 2009.
However, the national electoral authority said Mr. Bongo had won 65 percent of the vote, while his main rival, Albert Ondo Ossa, got 31 percent.
Even before the polls closed, Mr. Ondo Ossa said the election had been rigged by Mr. Bongo’s supporters.
If the military takeover succeeds, it would be the latest in a run of coups in Western and Central Africa, at least nine in the past three years, including one in Niger last month.
