Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is safe and has fled Guinea-Bissau following the military coup that deposed the country’s government, the Federal Government announced on Thursday.
Kimiebi Ebienfa, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated this during an interview with journalists in Abuja.
“Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is very safe and out of Guinea-Bissau. He left on a special flight with members of his delegation, including Mohamed Chambas,” he said.
In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, Filipe Nyusi, former president of Mozambique and head of the African Union Election Observation Mission; Issifu Kamara, head of the Economic Community of West African States Election Observation Mission; and Jonathan condemned the coup as a direct attempt to disrupt Guinea-Bissau’s democratic processes.
They urged locals to remain calm and reaffirmed their commitment to Guinea-Bissau “during this sensitive period,” emphasizing “the importance of preserving peace, stability, and the well-being of the Bissau-Guinean people.”
Also, the Federal Government has criticized the coup, warning that it poses a severe threat to democracy and regional stability.
Jonathan, who led the West African Elders Forum Election Observation Mission, was in the country monitoring last Sunday’s presidential and legislative elections when the military announced it had taken power.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it learned of the situation “with profound dismay and deep concern” and blamed the coup for resulting in “an unconstitutional change of government in the Republic of Guinea-Bissau.”
It referred to the conduct as a violation of the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance.
Guinea-Bissau was thrown into chaos on Wednesday as military officials declared “total control” over the country, locked its borders, and halted electoral activity. Heavy gunfire was heard near the presidential palace, and soldiers closed key access routes.
General Denis N’Canha, chief of the presidential military office, stated that a command “composed of all branches of the armed forces was taking over the leadership of the country until further notice.”
In a phone interview with France 24, incumbent President Umaro Sissoco Embalo stated, “I have been deposed.”
He was apparently inside a building behind military headquarters “with the chief of staff and the minister of the interior,” according to AFP.
Embalo and opposition candidate Fernando Dias had already declared victories in Sunday’s polls, with provisional results anticipated Thursday.
The military claimed to have discovered a conspiracy involving “national drug lords” and the shipment of weapons “to alter the constitutional order.”
Later on Thursday, military officials reported that the country’s borders had reopened. “All borders are now open,” General Lansana Mansali, the Inspector General of the Armed Forces, told AFP.
More than 6,700 security personnel, including members of the ECOWAS Stabilization Force, had been deployed for the polls, despite severe political unrest.
Guinea-Bissau, one of the world’s poorest countries, has been subjected to four successful coups and countless attempts since its independence.
