Gabon’s President Bongo calls on public to protest against his arrest

Hours after military leaders seized power in Gabon, President Ali Bongo issued a plea to the public from where he is being held under house arrest.

Bongo called on the people of Gabon to “make noise,” saying in a brief video he had been illegally detained at his residence.

Bongo was accused of high treason, the group of high-ranking officers said.

The group added that other government officials as well as Bongo’s son, Nouredine Bongo, had been arrested.

Earlier, the military leaders in Gabon announced they seized power, days after the central African nation’s presidential election which confirmed President Ali Bongo Ondimba’s third term.

The election results had been falsified, a group of officers said.

State institutions had been dissolved with immediate effect, the election results annulled and the country’s borders closed, said the group, which called itself the Committee for Transition and Restoration of Institutions (CTRI).

The CTRI had decided to “put an end to the current regime.”

The announcement came a few hours after the electoral authority declared Bongo the winner of the election with 64.27 per cent of the vote.