Guinea-Bissau’s capital, Bissau, saw almost empty streets on Thursday following the announcement by military officials of a coup d’état, which suspended the election process, arrested the president, and sealed the nation’s borders.
Only a few individuals strolled down the main access road, as soldiers patrolled the area surrounding the presidential mansion. A day previously, there had been reports of heavy shooting close to the same location.
Overnight, military patrols surged around the capital, according to AFP correspondents.
The provisional results of last Sunday’s presidential election, which were supposed to be released on Thursday, were postponed when a group of military commanders said on Wednesday that they had taken “total control” of the nation.
Even when self-proclaimed win claims started to circulate before the election commission released official certification, President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, who was seen as the front-runner in the polls, is still at the center of the situation.
The chief of the presidential military office, General Denis N’Canha, informed reporters early on Wednesday afternoon that a new command structure had taken control.
Additionally, he said that the discovery of a destabilization plot involving “drug lords” was what set off the coup.
He asserted that “the introduction of weapons into the country to alter the constitutional order” was part of the plot.
The suspension of important national systems was declared by the military leadership.
The junta claimed to have closed the “land, air, and sea” borders, suspended “all media programming,” stopped “the entire electoral process,” and imposed “mandatory curfew.”
Restrictions were also imposed on the nation after officials were allegedly arrested during the coup.
The leader of the “High Command for the Restoration of Order” is anticipated to be revealed on Thursday, according to a military source who spoke with AFP.
Since gaining independence from Portugal in 1974, Guinea-Bissau, which is situated between Guinea and Senegal, has had four successful coups. There have also been other attempts to seize control in the nation.
Recent years have seen an increase in military incursions throughout the West African region, especially in Guinea, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali, where governments had previously been overthrown.
