Olushola Omogbehin
The deposed President Umaro Sissoco Embaló of Guinea-Bissau‘s has arrived in neighbouring Senegal after his release by the armed forces that toppled his government early this week.
Senegal’s foreign ministry said in a statement that Embaló landed in the country “safe and sound” on a chartered military flight late on Thursday.
This development was a follow-up to a negotiations by the ECOWAS to secure his transfer in the rising tensions in Guinea-Bissau.
The coup that took place on Wednesday came a day before the provisional results of the presidential and parliamentary elections were due for announcement but the military has already suspended the electoral process and stopped the release of the results.
Embaló and his closest rival Fernando Dias had claimed victory in Sunday’s presidential poll which led to military intervention.
Meanwhile public protests and other activities that can disturb public peace and stability in the country have been banned with most shops and markets closed as soldiers patrolled the streets.
The military in Guinea-Bissau has already sworn in a new transitional leader, Gen Horta N’Tam, who will rule the coup-prone country for a year.
After the swearing-in, the military has however reopened land, air and sea borders that were shut when it announced the coup.
Situated between Guinea and Senegal, Guinea-Bissau has witnessed at least nine coups or attempted coups over the last five decades of independence from Portugal.
