Video shows 2022 arrest of Gabon opposition leader, not escape attempt

  • This article is more than one year old.
  • Published on September 1, 2023 at 14:29
  • 2 min read
  • By Erin FLANAGAN

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Social media posts featuring a video of authorities opening suitcases full of money claimed that border agents stopped a former Gabonese Senate president from fleeing the country following the August 30 coup. However, a reverse image search shows the video is from 2022 and was filmed during the arrest of opposition leader Guy Nzouba-Ndama.

“Breaking news: Former Senate president of Gabon was arrested with huge amount of currency trying to escape from his country,” reads a Facebook post published on August 22, 2023.

A screenshot of the false post, taken on September 1, 2023

Viewed more than 1.4 million times, the two-minute clip shows a group of people, including uniformed men, opening up several suitcases filled with wads of cash held together with tape labelled “B.E.A.C”.

The Bank of Central African States (BEAC) serves six central African countries, including Gabon and the Republic of the Congo (archived here). The Central African franc (CFA) is the official currency of the BEAC (archived here).

In the video, a man initially tries to prevent the suitcase from being opened but eventually backs away.

The clip circulated widely in Nigeria, with several commenters expressing their dismay at the politician’s behaviour. Others said they hoped that the military would also intervene in their country.

Similar claims also circulated in tweets and on TikTok.

Gabon coup

A group of senior Gabonese military officers announced on August 30 the cancellation of the country’s recent presidential election results, which gave long-time incumbent President Ali Bongo a third term in office.

The election was marred by accusations of fraud as the government cut off internet access and imposed a nightly curfew (archived here).

Gabon’s junta named General Brice Oligui Nguema as the transition leader and placed Bongo under house arrest.

However, the claim that the video shows Gabon’s former Senate president fleeing the country following the coup is false.

Old video

Using a reverse image search, AFP Fact Check found the video shows the 2022 arrest of former Gabonese parliament speaker Guy Nzouba-Ndama.

AFP covered the scandal, which saw Nzouba-Ndama returning to Gabon from the Republic of the Congo when he was stopped at the border (archived here).

Authorities took the opposition leader into custody after finding more than one billion CFA francs (1.9 million euros) in the suitcases (archived here).

Nzouba-Ndama was later found guilty of money laundering and espionage for a foreign country.

AFP Fact Check has debunked several false claims about the recent spate of coups in Africa. You can follow our coverage here.

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