Mutinous soldiers claimed to have seized power in Gabon on Wednesday and put the president under house arrest, hours after he was declared the winner in an election to extend his family's 55-year rule in the oil-rich Central African nation.
In a video apparently from detention in his residence, President Ali Bongo Ondimba called on people to "make noise" to support him. But crowds instead took to the streets of the capital and sang the national anthem to celebrate the coup attempt against the scion of a dynasty accused of getting rich on the country's resource wealth while many of its citizens struggle to scrape by.
"Thank you, army. Finally, we've been waiting a long time for this moment," said Yollande Okomo, standing in front of soldiers from Gabon's elite republican guard.
Bongo has served two terms since coming to power in 2009 after the death of his father, who ruled the country for 41 years.
Several members of the family are under investigation in France, and some face preliminary charges of embezzlement, money laundering and other forms of corruption, according to French media reports.
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