Security Forces Exchange Gunfire After Soldiers Free Detained Ministers In Guinea-Bissau

On Friday morning, after several National Guard soldiers tried to liberate an imprisoned minister and a top state official, there were reports of heavy gunfire in the capital of Guinea-Bissau.

The officials were taken by National Guard members, who then sought safety in barracks south of the capital.

There was then a gunfight after attempts at negotiation failed and special troops stepped in.

Amid investigations into the purported improper withdrawal of $10 million (£8 million) in public finances, the secretary of state for the treasury, Antonio Monteiro, and the finance minister, Souleiman Seidi, have been placed under arrest.

The O Democrata news station claimed that in an attempt to shed light on payments to 11 entities, the government officials were questioned on Thursday afternoon by an anti-corruption investigation.

Seidi, however, claimed the payments were legitimate.

According to local media, Mr. Seidi and Mr. Monteiro were taken into custody on Thursday following their interrogation in order to protect the integrity of the investigations.

Later in the evening, O Democrata stated that National Guard soldiers “with AK-47 weapons and bazookas” broke into the police cells near Bandim market and freed the jailed officials.

It said they were taken to an undisclosed location by the soldiers.

At the moment, President Umaro Sissoco Embalo is abroad in Dubai for the UN’s COP28 climate meeting.

Glamour Adah.

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