There is uncertainty about the fate of the government in Burkina Faso, following reports of a possible military takeover.
There have been reports of shooting in several military barracks across the country since the early hours of Sunday.
Local media reports cited local residents saying heavy gunfire had been heard at the Guillaume Ouédraogo and Sangoulé Lamizana military camps as well as at the air base in the capital, Ouagadougou since 5am on Sunday. Access roads to the camps were reportedly barricaded by armed soldiers, the reports said.
Gunfire was also reportedly heard in the city of Kaya inthe North-Central part of the country.
Camp Sangoulé Lamizana, located in the middle of Ouagadougou, houses an army detention and correctional facility where several army officers suspected of involvment in the September 2015 coup, among them Gal Gilbert Diendéré, are reportedly being held. It also holds suspects of the alleged attempted coup of 10 January 2022.
Some of those behind the shootings are reported to have requested for an audience with the Minister of Defense.
The government has denied that the military has taken over, describing the situation as unrests within the army and assured that it was being put under control.
In a statement, the spokesman of the government, Prof. Alkassoum Maiga, denied that there was any seizure of power. He however acknowledged that there was shooting in some barracks.
Defense Minister Barthélemy Simporé later appeared on national television to appeal for calm, noting that all state institutions were functioning normally. He called on the army to remain loyal to the state.
In a separate statement, state broadcaster RTB described the situation as “acts of discontent” by some soldiers in the camps.
“The military hierarchy is working hard to bring calm and serenity to the barracks,” it said in the statement without attributing it to any source.
The rumors of a military takeover came after clashes between protesters and the security forces on Saturday. Prodemocracy campaigners had called for the protest to expess disapproval of the government’s handling of the socioeconomic, politial and security problems facing the Sahel nation.
The government declared the protests illegal. But the protesters went ahead with it anyway. Several properties were burnt down as result of the unrest resulting from the protests staged in several cities across the country.
Prior to Saturday’s protest, the government of Roch Marc Christian Kaboré had suspended facebook in an apparent attempt to curtail the activities of the protest organizers.
This is the latest in a string of unrests to have struck Burkina Faso, one of the about half a dozen Sahel countries going through political turmoil partly fueled by an Islamist insurgency that began in Mali.
It comes seven years after the last coup in the country.
In the 2015 coup, soldiers said to be loyal to former president Blaise Compaore detained leaders of an interim government which had been put in place after the removal in 2014 of Compaore, who himself came to power in a military coup in 1987. Compaore was removed by a popular uprising.
On January 12, the Burkinabe government announced that it had instituted investigations into an alleged failed coup. Eight soldiers were reportedly detained in connection to the alleged attempt.
This latest development is likely to strengthen the resole of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to be tougher on military takeovers. The 16-nation bloc has been dealing with a threat of resurgence of coups in the last two years, after the militaries in Mali and Guinea succeeded in removing their elected governments.
President Kabore, in office since 2015, was re-elected just last year for a second term.
The security crisis in Burkina Faso has displaced over one million Burkinabés, according to the UN. It has also caused the closure of thousands of schools.
