Sao Tome and Principe’s Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada on Friday said the authorities thwarted a coup attempt on Thursday night after an attack on army headquarters, reported The Africa News.
Four men attacked the army headquarters on Thursday night. The attack, which the government called as a “coup d’etat”, was neutralized on Friday morning.
“We were targeted by an attempted coup, which began around 00.40 and was completed… shortly after 06.00,” Sao Tome and Principe’s Prime Minister said at a press conference on Friday.
Trovoada announced the arrest of four men. One of them named Arlecio Costa was a former military officer who attempted a coup in 2009. Costa was also detained in relation to the coup.
The attackers included the former president of the outgoing national assembly, Delfin Neves. Neves lost his position on November 11 when a new chamber was installed following elections in September, in which Trovoada’s centre-right Independent Democratic Action (ADI) party won an absolute majority.
“I want to tell the people of Sao Tome and Principe, those residing in the country and the foreign community that the situation is under control, it is calm,” the prime minister added.
He said a soldier had been taken hostage and wounded but he would be able to resume his activities in a few days.
The West African regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), condemned Sao Tome and Principe’s coup attempt.
The head of the bloc, Guinea-Bissau President Omaro Sissoco Embalo, tweeted that Sao Tome and Principe is a model of parliamentary democracy in Africa.
Located off the western equatorial coast of central Africa, Sao Tome and Principe, is a former Portuguese colony, which has been relatively stable. The country witnessed an attempted military coup against the government of President Fradique de Menezes in 2003. The coup leaders at the time said they attempted to oust the regime due to widespread poverty.
