A gaggle of senior navy officers appeared on tv within the oil-rich Central African nation of Gabon early Wednesday and introduced they had been seizing energy, hours after the incumbent president, Ali Bongo Ondimba, was re-elected for a 3rd time period.

The officers, who claimed to symbolize the foremost arms of the safety forces, mentioned they had been canceling the election outcomes, suspending the federal government and shutting the nation’s borders till additional discover.

There was no rapid response from Mr. Bongo or the federal government. Bursts of gunfire may very well be heard within the capital, Libreville, shortly after the printed ended, Reuters reported.

“We have decided to defend the peace by putting an end to the current regime,” one of many officers mentioned on the Gabon 24 station.

The tried takeover adopted days of mounting tensions, with Mr. Bongo trying to lengthen his household’s 56-year grip on Gabon with a presidential vote on Saturday that the opposition declared was fraudulent.

Mr. Bongo’s father, Omar Bongo, grew to become president in 1967; Mr. Bongo has been in energy since 2019. The nationwide electoral authority mentioned Mr. Bongo had gained 65 p.c of the vote, whereas his essential rival, Albert Ondo Ossa, obtained 31 p.c.

Even earlier than the polls closed, Mr. Ondo Ossa mentioned the election had been rigged by Mr. Bongo’s supporters.

If the navy takeover succeeds, it will be the newest in a run of coups in Western and Central Africa — at the least 9 previously three years, together with one in Niger final month.