Nigeria slams Sao Tome coup
2003-07-16 19:06
Abuja - The Nigerian government on Wednesday condemned "unequivocally" a pre-dawn coup in Sao Tome and Principe and warned that it would react to any threat against Nigerian property or citizens in that country.
"The government condemns unequivocally this violation of the democratic process. Needless to observe that the development is also a gross violation of... the Constitutive Act of the African Union," an official statement said.
"Nigeria is further alarmed at the news that its embassy is Sao Tome has been surrounded by armed troops and wishes to warn that any act of terror by the coupists that threatens the lives and properties of its staff and the Nigerian citizens resident in Sao Tome would be treated seriously and will evoke an appropriate response," it added.
The government urged the coup-makers to immediately restore the democratically elected government of Sao Tome and Principe, according to the statement.
It said it is in consultation with the leadership of the African Union for "a concerted response to this condemnable act in Sao Tome and Principe, which can only tarnish the image of our continent".
Sao Tome President Fradique de Menezes was reportedly in Nigeria on a private visit when hundreds of soldiers launched their bloodless coup in the tiny archipelago in the early hours of Wednesday.
The coup-makers have since set up a junta and dissolved all government institutions.
The archipelago of Sao Tome and Principe is located in the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea, off the coast of Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer.
The two countries are closely linked by an agreement signed in February 2001 under which they agreed to jointly exploit vast offshore oil reserves in the so-called joint maritime zone.
Sixty percent of revenues from the zone are to go to Nigeria and 40 percent to Sao Tome. - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA