Streets were nearly deserted on Thursday in Bissau, the capital of Guinea-Bissau, after military officers announced a coup d’état, suspending the electoral process, arresting the president and sealing the country’s borders.
Soldiers were seen patrolling the area around the presidential palace, while only a handful of people walked along the main access road. Heavy gunfire had been reported near the same area a day earlier.
AFP journalists said military patrols swept through the capital overnight.
A group of military officers on Wednesday announced that it had seized “total control” of the country, suspending the release of provisional electoral results from last Sunday’s presidential election, which had been expected on Thursday.
President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, considered a frontrunner in the polls, remains central to the crisis, even after self-declared victory claims began circulating even before the electoral commission issued official confirmation.
General Denis N’Canha, the head of the presidential military office, told reporters in the early afternoon on Wednesday that a new command structure had taken over.
He also alleged that the coup was triggered after a destabilisation plan involving “drug lords” was uncovered.
The plot included “the introduction of weapons into the country to alter the constitutional order”, he claimed.
The military leadership announced the suspension of key national systems.
According to the junta, it halted “the entire electoral process”, enforced “mandatory curfew”, suspended “all media programming, and closed the “land, air, and sea” borders.
The country was also placed under restrictions after officials were reportedly detained during the takeover.
A military source who spoke with AFP said the head of the “High Command for the Restoration of Order” is expected to be announced on Thursday.
Guinea-Bissau, located between Guinea and Senegal, has endured repeated military disruptions, recording four successful coups since independence from Portugal in 1974. The country has also faced several attempted power seizures.
The West African region has witnessed heightened military incursions in recent years, including in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Guinea, where governments were previously toppled.
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