Nearly ten hours elapsed between the capture of national television in Ouagadougou by hooded soldiers and the formalization of the putsch in Burkina Faso, Monday, January 24. The face of the country’s new strongman, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, appeared on the screens at the end of the day, after a weekend of tensions and mutinies in several barracks in the country, where terrorist attacks have caused more than 2,000 deaths in six years.
The Patriotic Movement for Safeguarding and Restoration (MPSR), “which brings together all the components of the defense and security forces, has thus decided to put an end to the power of Mr. Roch Marc Christian Kaboré”, said Captain Kader Ouedraogo on television, surrounded by about fifteen soldiers, in fatigues and red berets.
The putschists announced the closure of land and air borders from midnight, dissolved the government as well as the National Assembly and “suspended” the Constitution. A curfew has also been decreed, from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., throughout the territory, ” until further notice “. On Monday, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who said he followed “with deep concern” the situation, called the military “to lay down arms” and to “ensure protection” of President Kaboré, who was, according to his entourage, placed in a “supervised villa”.
“The country is liberated! »
After the junta’s televised declaration, a few hundred supporters gathered in Place de la Nation, in the heart of the capital, shouted their joy and sang the national anthem. “Fatherland or death, we will win!” », sang the latter, brandishing small flags of Burkina Faso. “With President Roch, we lived daily killings, misery, now with the military in power we hope to find peace”, wants to believe Ousseni Bamogo, an unemployed welder. In the city center, groups of young people also paraded on their motorbikes, honking and shouting: “The country is liberated! Long live the army! »
Confirmation of the putsch ended a long day of uncertainty in Burkina Faso, but did not lift the veil on the fate of the ousted president. During the night from Sunday to Monday, shots were heard near the home of the Head of State, in the Patte-d’Oie district, and three vehicles riddled with bullets were found near the residence, abandoned in the middle of the street. Traces of blood covered the seats of one of the vehicles.
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