September 02, (THEWILL) – The military junta in Gabon has ordered that all the country’s borders, closed in the wake of Wednesday’s coup that ousted President Ali Bongo Ondimba, be reopened.
Spokesperson of the Junta, Lt. Colonel Ulrich Manfoumbi, who made this known on Saturday, on National Television, said the order to reopen the borders takes immediate effect.
“We have decided with immediate effect to reopen the land, sea and air borders as of this Saturday”, he said.
The land, sea and air borders were opened because the junta was “concerned with preserving respect for the rule of law, good relations with our neighbors and all states of the world” and wanted to keep its “international commitments”, Manfoumbi added.
General Brice Oligui Nguema, the head of the elite Republican Guard, on Wednesday, led officers in a coup against President Ali Bongo Ondimba, scion of a family that had ruled for 56years.
His ousting came just moments after Bongo, 64, was declared winner of a disputed presidential election − a result branded a fraud by the opposition.
The coup leaders said they had dissolved the nation’s institutions and cancelled the election results, as well as closing the borders.
Oligui is due on Monday, to be sworn in as “transitional president.”
Five other countries in Africa including Mali, Guinea, Sudan, Burkina Faso and Niger, have undergone coups in the last three years.
