Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba has been placed under house arrest, and one of his sons has been apprehended on charges of “treason,” declared military officers on Wednesday.
“President Ali Bongo is under house arrest, surrounded by his family and doctors,” they said in a statement read out on state TV.
Noureddin Bongo Valentin, the son of Bongo and a trusted advisor, along with Ian Ghislain Ngoulou, the chief of staff, as well as the deputy chief of staff and two additional presidential advisors, alongside the highest-ranking officials within the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG), have been taken into custody, according to a military spokesperson.
They are facing charges that encompass treason, embezzlement, corruption, and forging the president’s signature, among other accusations, the spokesperson stated.
Earlier in the day, military officials announced the removal of Bongo, who had held power for 14 years, just hours after he had been officially declared the winner in Saturday’s elections.
In a televised statement, they said the vote results had been cancelled and “all the institutions of the republic” dissolved.