Gabon Elections Updates: Handful of Gabonese take refuge in Cameroon amid post electoral tension

About 130 Gabonese have fled across the border to Cameroon due to violence that erupted after disputed presidential polls in August. Many fear that incumbent president Ali Bongo will cling to power at all costs. Gabon's capital Libreville has been rocked by protests and mass arrests since the disputed election results were announced last week. Opposition groups say that between 50 and 100 people have been killed since then, while the government reported only three deaths.

According to government sources 1,200 people are currently in police and military custody. And over the past few days, over 100 people crossed over to the Cameroonian border town of Kiossi on the Cameroonian border with Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. Among the new arrivals is Constance Oyoubi, a 33-year-old, who said she escaped from a police cell in Libreville where she was detained for protesting in support of opposition leader Jean Ping.

She believes that incumbent president Ali Bongo will do anything to remain in power. "He does not want to leave power and we are very afraid because Gabon is a very small country. If they start destroying it, I do not know what will happen."

Cameroon Tribune