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Gabon: A List Of Recent Military Coups In Africa

Published

2 years ago

August 30, 2023

On August 30, top military commanders in Gabon declared on national television that they had assumed power and annulled the results of the election in the country that announced President Ali Bongo’s third term victory.

Africa, especially the western and central regions, has in the last few years become a ‘hub’ for military coups. If successful, the Gabon coup will be the second in two months this year and the eighth since 2020.

Below is a list of recent military coups in the continent

NIGER

On July 26, 2023, members of Niger’s presidential guard detained President Mohamed Bazoum inside his palace, declaring on national television that they were seizing power to address the “deteriorating security situation and bad governance.”

Abdourahamane Tiani, the commander of the presidential guard, was named the new head of state a few days later by the military junta.

The leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have been in talks with the Junta to reinstate constitutional order, noting that they will activate ‘standby forces’ if diplomacy fails.

BURKINA FASO

The country had two coups in 2022. In January 2022, Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba ousted President Roch Kabore over failure to contain violence by Islamist militants.

However, on September 30, 2022, Captain Ibrahim Traore seized power from Damiba to become the country’s new leader.

GUINEA

President Alpha Conde was overthrown in September 2021 by special forces leader Colonel Mamady Doumbouya after the former altered the constitution in 2020 to get around restrictions that would have prohibited him from running for a third term, which had led to severe unrest.

ECOWAS thereafter imposed sanctions on Doumbouya, junta leaders, and relatives, rejecting the promise of a transition to democracy in three years.

CHAD

After President Idriss Deby was killed in combat while visiting forces engaged in fighting rebels in the north, the Chadian army seized control of the country in April 2021.

The president’s son, General Mahamat Idriss Deby, was named interim president, which contravenes Chadian law, where the speaker of parliament should have become president.

The unlawful transfer of power sparked rioting in N’Djamena, the country’s capital, which the military eventually put down.

MALI

President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was overthrown in August 2020 by a gang of Malian colonels under the command of Assimi Goita. The coup came after anti-government demonstrations about worsening security, contentious elections for the legislature, and corruption charges.

The junta consented to hand over control to an interim administration run by civilians, which will oversee an 18-month transition to free and fair elections in February 2022.

After a clash between the coup leader and the interim president, retired colonel Bah Ndaw, the junta staged a second coup in May 2021. Assimi Goita, who had been acting vice president in the meantime, was promoted to the position of president.

Headline

Trump Birthright Citizenship Order Halted In Class-action Suit

Published

1 day ago

July 10, 2025

Editor

A federal judge on Thursday halted President Donald Trump’s order restricting birthright citizenship, as opponents of the policy pursue a new legal avenue following the US Supreme Court’s overturning of a previous block.

The high court’s conservative majority delivered a landmark decision in late June that limits the ability of individual judges to issue nationwide injunctions against presidents’ policies.

Several such judges had in fact blocked Trump’s attempt to end the longstanding rule, guaranteed in the US Constitution, that anyone born on US soil is automatically an American citizen.

However, the Supreme Court left open the possibility that orders could be blocked via broad class-action suits against the government.

Trump’s opponents quickly filed new class-action suits seeking to block again the executive order.

On Thursday, Judge Joseph Laplante of the US District of New Hampshire granted class-action status to any child who would potentially be denied citizenship under Trump’s order. The judge ordered a preliminary halt to it as legal proceedings carry on.

The judge delayed his ruling for seven days to permit the Trump administration to appeal.

Cody Wofsy, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) who argued the case, called the ruling a “huge victory” that “will help protect the citizenship of all children born in the United States, as the Constitution intended.”

Trump’s executive order decrees that children born to parents in the United States illegally or on temporary visas would not automatically become citizens — a radical reinterpretation of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution.

His administration has argued that the 14th Amendment, passed in the wake of the Civil War, addresses the rights of former slaves and not the children of undocumented migrants or temporary US visitors.

The Supreme Court rejected such a narrow definition in a landmark 1898 case.

The current high court, with a 6-3 conservative majority, avoided ruling last month on the constitutionality of Trump’s executive order and only addressed the issue of nationwide injunctions.

It nonetheless permitted the order to go ahead but delayed its ruling from taking effect until late July to allow for new court challenges.

Several lower courts, in issuing their previous injunctions, had ruled that the executive order violated the Constitution.

Headline

PICTORIAL: Two Undocumented Nigerians Arrested For Drug Trafficking In Libya

Published

1 day ago

July 10, 2025

Editor

Libya’s Counter-Terrorism Forces have arrested two undocumented Nigerians over alleged involvement in drug trafficking.

According to a statement shared by Migrant Rescue Watch on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, the suspects were caught with quantities of hashish and hallucinogenic pills, including Tramadol and Lyrica.

Authorities also recovered a large sum of cash suspected to be proceeds from drug sales during the operation.

Following their arrest, the two Nigerians have been handed over to the appropriate legal authorities for further investigation and possible prosecution.

The statement said, “Counter-Terrorism Forces arrested 2 undocumented #migrants of Nigerian nationality for drug trafficking. The individuals were found in possession of hashish, hallucinogenic pills “Tramadol” & “Lyrica” as well as cash from proceeds.

“Both individuals were referred to competent authorities for legal action.”

Headline

31 Workers Escape Death As Tunnel Collapses In Los Angeles

Published

2 days ago

July 10, 2025

Editor

All 31 workers escaped without injuries from a collapsed industrial tunnel in Los Angeles’ Wilmington area, after scrambling over a tall pile of loose underground soil, city officials said late on Wednesday.

The trapped workers were shuttled back to the tunnel’s entry point, more than 5 miles (8 km) away from the affected area, after they escaped the collapsed section and met several coworkers in the unaffected part of the tunnel, the Los Angeles Fire Department said in a statement.

The tunnel, which had a diameter of 18 ft (5.5 m), trapped 27 individuals, while four workers entered the damaged section to assist with rescue, LA Fire Chief Ronnie Villanueva told reporters in a media briefing.

“The workers had to climb through debris. They had to make themselves out through,” before they were assisted out, Villanueva said.

Robert Ferrante, chief engineer and general manager of Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts, told the briefing that a section of the already built part of the tunnel experienced squeezing ground conditions and partially collapsed.

“LAFD has just reported that all workers who were trapped in the tunnel in Wilmington are now out and accounted for. I just spoke with many of the workers who were trapped. Thank you to all of our brave first responders who acted immediately,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a post on X.

The collapsed section was a part of the Los Angeles County’s Clearwater Project, where the new 7-mile tunnel is being built to upgrade the region’s sewer system, officials added.

(Reuters)