Gabon government cracks down on criticism
LIBREVILLE – A repressive climate in Gabon is shattering hopes that the rise to power of Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema would lead to democratic change. Opposition figures have been imprisoned, critical voices threatened and social media suspended. One of the first to bear the brunt was Nelly Ngabima, a TikTok star with some 250 000... The post Gabon government cracks down on criticism appeared first on New Era .
LIBREVILLE – A repressive climate in Gabon is shattering hopes that the rise to power of Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema would lead to democratic change. Opposition figures have been imprisoned, critical voices threatened and social media suspended.
One of the first to bear the brunt was Nelly Ngabima, a TikTok star with some 250 000 followers known as Princesse de Souba. Ngabima, who never pulls punches when it comes to Gabon’s elite, told AFP that people close to the president threatened her, so much so that France granted her refugee status.
A close associate of Oligui Nguema also sent her father a threatening voice message.
“Mr Oligui doesn’t want to hear from activists or opponents. He doesn’t want to have any,” she said.
In November, several of Ngabima’s social media accounts were suspended after she posted a video of the Bongo family, including former president Ali Bongo Ondimba’s wife Sylvia and son, Noureddin, who claimed to have been tortured by the new president’s men.
