Most of the soldiers who seized the headquarters of national radio in Libreville have been arrested, according to a government spokesperson. He said another one is on the run, reportedly calling them a “group of jokers”.
9:00 am: The government spokesman announces that four of the mutineers have been arrested and one is on the run. He says it’s a group of jokers and the military hierarchy does not recognize them.
08:55: “I’m at the airport. There are not many people outside. All shops on main roads are closed. The majority of people stayed at home. Even at the airport, passengers do not go,” says Alain, a resident of Libreville.
08:45: According to the Minister of Communication Guy-Bertrand Mapangou, spokesman of the government, the mutineers were arrested by the units of GIGN Gabonese. The situation is under control and the order will be fully restored in two or three hours, he says.
08:40: According to the ambassador of Gabon in Paris, joined by RFI, the mutineers arrested.
Gabon’s President Ali Bongo Ondimba. Photographer: FRED DUFOUR/AP Photo
8:35 am: A relative of the presidency indicates that when the first members of the army entered the seized radio station, they found that mutineers were locked in a room. They were asked to open negotiations to avoid the use of force. This request was categorically denied.
08:30: On the images of the message broadcast by the putschists, we can see three soldiers. The speaker is sitting and behind him, two men in uniform, standing, martial-looking, carrying machine-guns. The officer who made the announcement identified himself as Lieutenant Kelly Ondo Obiang, Deputy Commander of the Republican Guard.
8:20 am: The communiqué of the putschists is broadcast in a loop via the signal of the national radio station.