Gunfire and clashes that erupted in the capital of Guinea-Bissau this week were an “attempted coup”, President Umaro Sissoco Embalo has said.
Clashes between two army factions broke out on Thursday night after National Guard soldiers freed two senior government officials who were detained on a corruption investigation. The unrest left at least two people dead.
Embalo, who was in Dubai attending the COP28 climate conference, arrived in Bissau on Saturday and said an “attempted coup d’etat” had prevented him from returning.
“I must tell you this act will have serious consequences,” he added.
Calm had returned by noon on Friday to the nation with a history of instability, following the announcement that the army had captured Colonel Victor Tchongo, the commander of the National Guard.
On Saturday, the security presence in Bissau was reduced but soldiers were still visible around certain strategic buildings such as the presidential palace, the judicial police headquarters and some ministries.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said it “strongly condemns the violence and all attempts to disrupt the constitutional order and rule of law in Guinea-Bissau”. The regional bloc also expressed “its full solidarity with the people and constitutional authorities of Guinea-Bissau”.
A spokesman for United Nations chief Antonio Guterres, Stephane Dujarric, on Friday called for calm and urged the security forces and the army “to continue refraining from interference in national politics”.
The AFP news agency, quoting military and intelligence sources, said members of the National Guard on Thursday stormed a police station to free Finance Minister Souleiman Seidi and Treasury Secretary Antonio Monteiro. The duo had been taken in for questioning on Thursday morning about the reported withdrawal of $10m from state coffers. They had been detained under orders of state prosecutors who are named by the president.
The National Guard is under the control of the interior ministry, which, like most ministries in the country, is dominated by the PAIGC party whose coalition won the June 2023 elections.
Guinea-Bissau has a history of political instability, with at least 10 coups or attempted coups since gaining independence from Portugal in 1974. Embalo, who was elected to a five-year term in December 2019, survived a failed overthrow in February 2022.
The unrest in Guinea-Bissau adds to the wave of military takeovers that have swept through West Africa over the past three years, including in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, and Gabon.