The internet has been restored in Gabon after a three-day outage, a few hours after a group of army officers said they had taken power.
A nationwide internet shutdown had been imposed by President Ali Bongo’s government as polling drew to a close late Saturday.
The government explained that they took the decision to prevent the spread of “false news” and possible violence.
12 soldiers ‘take power’
On Wednesday, August 30 morning, army officers appeared on television announcing that they were taking power.
The twelve (12) soldiers said that they were annulling (cancelling) the results of Saturday’s election in which President Bongo had been declared the winner.
Ostensibly, the soldiers said they were dissolving “all the institutions of the republic”, even as gunfire was heard in the capital Libreville.
“After observing irresponsible, unpredictable governance resulting in a continuing deterioration in social cohesion that risks leading the country into chaos… we have decided to defend peace by putting an end to the current regime,” one of the soldiers said on TV channel Gabon 24 as reported by AFP.
