Coup: Goodluck Jonathan trapped in Guinea Bissau

Former President Goodluck Jonathan is currently trapped in Guinea Bissau after a group of military officers announced they have taken over the government. 

Jonathan alongside hundreds of foreign observers are unable to leave the country where elections took place and results were about to be officially declared. 

According to Daily Trust, hundreds of foreign observers who raced to the airport in a bid to leave the country after the coup was announced are currently stranded.

The coup leaders claimed “total control” of the country on Wednesday, a day after two leading candidates – President Umaro Sissoco Embalo and Fernando Dias – each declared victory in the country’s election even though the electoral commission had not released official results.

Calling themselves the “High Military Command for the Restoration of Order”, the officers ordered the immediate suspension of the electoral process “until further notice”

They also ordered the closure of all land, air and sea borders and an overnight curfew.

“I have been deposed,” Embalo told French broadcaster France24 in a phone call, adding that he was “currently at the general staff headquarters”

The head of the main opposition PAIGC party, Domingos Simoes Pereira, has also been arrested, Haque said. 

“As well, we’ve just heard that the military is trying to cut off the Internet. There’s a curfew in place.”

He added that the army officer leading the coup, Denis N’Canha, served as the head of the presidential guard.

“The man supposed to protect the president himself has put the president under arrest,” Haque said.

Jonathan, who is head of the West African Elders Forum (WAEF) observer group, had taken to social media to announce his arrival.

“We arrived in Bissau this evening as members of the West African Elders Forum (WAEF) Election Mission ahead of Guinea Bissau’s presidential and parliamentary polls scheduled for November 23, 2025. We wish the people of Guinea Bissau a peaceful, inclusive and transparent elections,” he wrote. 

Two days later, he posted another update: “OUT ON ELECTION DAY IN BISSAU. Members of the West African Elders Forum (WAEF) Election Mission today conducted visits to some polling stations in Bissau as voting commenced in Guinea-Bissau’s 2025 presidential and parliamentary elections. WAEF extends warm regards to the people and authorities of Guinea-Bissau and wishes for a smooth voting process and a peaceful, stable post-election period that strengthens unity and democratic governance,” he wrote. 

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