Captain Ibrahim Traore waves at a crowd as he drove around Ouagadougou
OUAGADOUGOU, Oct 3 (NNN-GNA) — Captain Ibrahim Traore, the new military ruler of Burkina Faso, appeared on TV after driving through parts of the capital Ouagadougou with heavily armed guards on Sunday.
Traore, who is now leader of Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration, or MPSR, the group that led the first coup in January was silent about the whereabouts of deposed leader, Lt. Col. Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.
In the address read by a spokesman whiles he stood to the left, Traore assured the population that the situation in the country was under control, he also asked people to go about their daily activities and stay off looting and vandalism.
He mentioned specifically that attacks on French government installations needed to be stopped.
His comments come on the back of violent attacks against the French Embassy in Ouagadougou which photos and videos had gone viral on Oct 1.
Reports indicate the French businesses have also not been spared as well as a French Institute in Bobo-Dioulasso and also the French military base – the base, it was alleged, by an army spokesperson was accommodating the ousted leader.
The French Foreign Affairs Ministry, however, issued a firm condemnation of the violent acts and dismissed the allegation of sheltering the ousted leader at their base neither at any facility.
ECOWAS and the African Union, AU, have sternly rejected the unconstitutional power grab and called for a return to the roadmap towards a civilian transition by 2024.
The underlying reasons for the takeover of Sept 30 was the increasing deterioration of security across the country.
The same reason was advanced by Damiba in January when he deposed democratically-elected Christian Roch Marc Kabore before the birth of the MPSR.
Damiba according to the Associated Press gave seven conditions before accepting to resign but has flown to Togo as of Oct 2. — NNN-GNA
