A video has emerged showing money estimated to be in the billions of FCFA in a place that has been described as the residence of Ian Ghislain Ngoulou, the chief of staff to Noureddin Bongo Valentin.
The discovery was allegedly made today, Wednesday, August 30, 2023, in Gabon. This comes after the military announced the arrest of Ngoulou.
According to a military leader, Noureddin Bongo Valentin, Bongo’s son and valued adviser, was arrested together with Ian Ghislain Ngoulou, Bongo’s chief of staff, Bongo’s deputy, two other presidential advisers, and the two highest-ranking officials in the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG).
Treason, embezzlement, corruption, and forgery of the president’s signature are just some of the charges against them, according to the putschists.
In some of the videos, Ngoulou can be seen standing beside the bags of money. It is not clear exactly when the videos were taken. But another shows Ngoulou handcuffed by military officials while being taken into custody, suggesting that the discovery and videos would have been made around the time he was arrested earlier today.
These arrests are part of the action by the Gabonese military who in the early hours of today, took over national TV to announce that Ali Bongo Ondimba had been deposed.
Ali Bongo has been spotted in a video made at the presidential residence, in which he is appealing to his ‘friends across the world’ to ‘make noise’ about his arrest. In the same video, he explains that he does not know the whereabouts of his son.
