Gabon coup: officers say they are taking power

The TV announcement came hours after the central African country's president, Ali Bongo Ondimba, was re-elected to a third term.< /p>

A group of senior army officers appeared on television in Gabon, an oil-rich country in central Africa, on Wednesday and announced that they were taking the power, a few hours after the re-election of the outgoing president, Ali Bongo Ondimba. for a third term.

The officers, who claimed to represent the main arms of the security forces, said they were nullifying the election results, suspending the government and shutting down the country. borders until further notice.

There was no immediate reaction from Mr. Bongo or the government. Bursts of gunfire could be heard in the capital, Libreville, shortly after the broadcast ended, Reuters reported.

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

The attempt to seize power follows days of tension growing as Mr. Bongo seeks to extend his family's 56-year sway over Gabon with a presidential poll on Saturday that the opposition has declared fraudulent.

Mr. Bongo's father, Omar Bongo, became president in 1967. Mr. Bongo has been in power since 2009. The national electoral authority said Mr. Bongo won 65 percent of the vote, while his main rival, Albert Ondo Ossa, had won 31 percent.

Even before the polls closed, Mr. Ondo Ossa said that the elections had been rigged by supporters of Mr. Bongo.

If the military takeover succeeds, it would be the latest in a series of coups in West and Central Africa – at least nine over the course of for the past three years, including one in Niger last month.