Locals in Libreville cheered as members of the Gabonese military paraded through the streets on August 31 after declaring a coup.

Another clip shows Colonel Ulrich Manfoumbi Manfoumbi, spokesperson for the newly formed Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions, reading a statement.

The country's military named General Brice Oligui Nguema as their new leader.

STORY: Gabonese military declare coup, Brice Oligui Nguema named as transition leader
DATELINE: Aug. 31, 2023
LENGTH: 00:01:57
LOCATION: Libreville
CATEGORY: POLITICS/MILITARY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of people on the street
2. SOUNDBITE (French) : ULRICH MANFOUMBI MANFOUMBI, Spokesperson of Committee for Transition and Restoration of Institutions (CTRI)

STORYLINE:

Brice Oligui Nguema, commander-in-chief of the Gabonese Republican Guard, was named as the transition leader of the central African country on Wednesday night following a coup.

The national electoral body announced earlier in the day that President Ali Bongo had won a third term. However, the military declared on state television that the election results were canceled and placed Bongo under house arrest.

Leaders of the Gabonese military agreed by unanimous vote to appoint Nguema as president of the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions (CTRI), said Ulrich Manfoumbi Manfoumbi, the committee's spokesperson.

SOUNDBITE (French) : ULRICH MANFOUMBI MANFOUMBI, Spokesperson of Committee for Transition and Restoration of Institutions
"General Brice Oligui Nguema was named unanimously as president of the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions (CTRI) and transition leader."

Nguema ordered the reconnection of the optical fiber and the restoration of radio and television signals. He stressed the need to maintain calm and serenity in the country and preserve stability and dignity, according to the spokesperson.

Traffic restrictions between 6 p.m., local time, Wednesday and 6 a.m. the following day remain in effect until further notice, the spokesperson said.

Earlier in the day, a group of officers claimed, on behalf of the CTRI, to have seized power to "put an end to the regime in place." The announcement came after Gabon's national electoral body said on the same day that Bongo from the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party was reelected for a third term in Saturday's election.

In a televised statement, the officers said the election results were canceled, state institutions dissolved, and all borders closed until further notice.

In another statement released Wednesday, the military said, "President Ali Bongo is kept under house arrest, surrounded by his family and his doctors." The officers said the son of the president, Noureddin Bongo Valentin, and several other senior officials close to Bongo were arrested.

In a video clip released Wednesday afternoon, Bongo said he is at his residence while his wife and son are in other places.

"Nothing is happening. I don't know what is going on. So I am calling on you to make noise, make noise, make noise really. I'm thanking you," said Bongo in his first public appearance after the coup.

According to local media, gunfire was heard in the capital of Libreville.

Ali Bongo, 64, once served as minister of defense and other posts in the government. He was elected president of the Gabonese Republic in 2009 and was reelected in 2016.

In January 2019 when Bongo was in Morocco recovering from a stroke, a group of soldiers broke into the national radio station in Libreville and announced the establishment of a "national council of the restoration." The government foiled the coup attempt as security forces soon took over the radio station and detained the soldiers.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Libreville.
(XHTV)