Soldiers in Guinea-Bissau have seized power, detained President Umaro Sissoco Emb and suspended the country’s election process, deepening political uncertainty in the West African nation.
Gunfire was heard in the capital, Bissau, earlier on Wednesday, sending hundreds of residents fleeing for safety. Soon after, military officers appeared on state television announcing that they had taken control of the government. They also declared the closure of all borders and imposed a night-time curfew.
The officers said they acted to stop a plot by unnamed politicians who, according to them, had support from a known drug trafficker. They claimed the plot threatened national stability. The country was still awaiting results from Sunday’s presidential election, in which both Embaló and his main challenger, Fernando Dias, had declared victory.
Government sources have said that the soldiers detained Embaló along with Dias, former Prime Minister Domingos Pereira, and Interior Minister Botché Candé. The officers have also taken the army chief, Gen Biague Na Ntan, and his deputy, Gen Mamadou Touré, into custody.
General Denis N’Canha later read a statement on behalf of the officers, saying they had formed “the High Military Command for the Restoration of Order.” Checkpoints were set up across the capital, and streets were empty as the curfew approached.
Guinea-Bissau has a long history of political instability, with at least nine coups or attempted coups since independence from Portugal in 1974. Embaló, elected in 2019, has often said that he has survived several attempts to remove him from office, though critics accuse him of using these claims to tighten his control.
The country remains one of the poorest in the world and has been widely described as a hub for cocaine trafficking, with many uninhabited islands along its coastline used as transit points for drugs heading to Europe.
The takeover has drawn international concern. Portugal has called for calm and urged all sides to avoid violence and return to constitutional order.
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