The new military rulers in Gabon have announced the arrest of former President Ali Bongo Ondimba and one of his sons on the charges of treason.

The military in a statement read on state television, says the 2 men are under house arrest, surrounded by family and doctors. The arrest come few hours after the military officers announced a coup, saying that last week’s election lacked credibility.

The officers said they had cancelled the elections, dissolved all state institutions and closed the country’s borders.

The elections which held last weekend and was won by Ali Bongo was decried by the opposition as fraudulent, with widespread reports of election manipulation. Before the polls, the authorities placed a curfew, cut off the internet and barred some foreign media outlets from covering the elections.

As it stands, the coup will put an end to the 56-year rule of the Bongo family who have ruled Gabon non-stop since 1967.

It is also the latest in the trend of coups in Africa since 2019, after similar putsches in Sudan (twice), Mali (twice), Chad, Guinea, Burkina Faso (twice) and Niger Republic.