Tinubu, Ouattara sent aircraft to evacuate me out of Guinea-Bissau Coup — Jonathan reveals
Former President Goodluck Jonathan has revealed that President Bola Tinubu and Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara each deployed aircraft to evacuate him and his delegation during the recent military coup in Guinea-Bissau.
Speaking in a media interview, Jonathan explained—citing details reported by Nivo News—that Côte d’Ivoire’s aircraft arrived first due to the country’s geographical closeness to Guinea-Bissau and the ease of obtaining swift landing clearance through existing regional coordination mechanisms. Once the Ivorian jet was positioned for extraction, the Nigerian evacuation plane was instructed to stand down to allow for an orderly and efficient rescue.
Jonathan expressed profound gratitude to both West African leaders for their rapid intervention, noting that their prompt actions ensured the safety of his delegation amid escalating political turmoil.
The former president had travelled to Guinea-Bissau as the head of the West African Elders Forum Election Observation Mission for Sunday’s presidential and legislative elections.
His team was still observing the process when the military abruptly announced that it had seized control of government operations.
Reacting to the coup, Jonathan—alongside other regional and continental observer mission leaders—strongly condemned the military takeover, describing it as a deliberate assault on the electoral process and a dangerous move to destabilize the nation.
