Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan is currently trapped in Guinea-Bissau following a military takeover announced on Wednesday, Daily Trust has learnt.
Jonathan, who arrived the country as head of the West African Elders Forum (WAEF) election observation mission, is among hundreds of foreign observers unable to leave after soldiers shut down the country’s borders.
The military group, calling itself the High Military Command for the Restoration of Order, declared it had taken “total control” and immediately suspended the electoral process. This happened just one day after incumbent President Umaro Sissoco Embalo and rival candidate Fernando Dias both declared victory ahead of official results.
The coup leaders ordered an overnight curfew and sealed all land, air and sea borders, leaving observers stranded at the airport and across Bissau.
President Embalo told France24 by phone: “I have been deposed… I am currently at the general staff headquarters.”
Reports also indicated that the head of the opposition PAIGC, Domingos Simoes Pereira, had been arrested. Coup leader Denis N’Canha, formerly head of the presidential guard, is believed to be directing the operation.
Jonathan had been providing regular updates on the mission before the coup unfolded. Earlier posts from Bissau showed him meeting political stakeholders, monitoring polling stations, and paying a condolence visit to the family of former First Lady Isolina Da Fonseca Nhamajo.
Efforts to confirm his exact location were unsuccessful as calls to his spokesman, Ikechukwu Eze, did not connect. However, Jonathan’s former spokesman, Ima Niboro, confirmed that the former president remains in Guinea-Bissau but is safe.
Niboro told Daily Trust he had made contact with people around Jonathan, who assured him that the former president and other observers were not harmed though unable to leave the country because of the military lockdown.
In a joint statement issued from Bissau, Jonathan and other African leaders condemned the coup and called for immediate restoration of constitutional order.
They described the takeover as “a blatant attempt to disrupt the democratic process”, noting that both leading candidates had earlier assured observers of their willingness to accept the election outcome.
The group urged the African Union and ECOWAS to intervene, while demanding the release of arrested electoral officials to allow the process to continue.
They also appealed to citizens of Guinea-Bissau to remain calm and avoid actions that could escalate tension during what they called a “sensitive national moment.”