Ping said he was not calling on his supporters to protest because they were already under so much pressure from authorities. Telephone and internet communications were cut.
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It was not immediately clear where Ping – a veteran diplomat and former top African Union official who had earlier declared himself the poll victor – had taken refuge.
Ping said two people were killed and many wounded as soldiers fired tear gas and live ammunition, while a government spokesperson said security forces were searching for “criminals” who earlier set fire to the National Assembly building in the capital, Libreville.
Police reported continued pillaging in outlying districts at midday Thursday.
“It was a part of securing the headquarters of Jean Ping, because all of the operations for the capital had been planned there”, said Bilie-By-Nze, referring to opposition protests on Wednesday throughout the capital, Libreville.
“Security forces surrounded the opposition headquarters overnight and stormed the building in the early hours of Thursday morning, killing two and injuring more than a dozen there”, Ping to AFP.
“They were bombarding with helicopters and then they…”
Former colonial ruler France, the United States and the European Union urged calm late on Wednesday and called on authorities to release polling station results for greater transparency, while the United Nations also urged restraint.
“This will help give the people of Gabon – as well as the global community – confidence the announced vote tallies are accurate”, said US State Department spokesman John Kirby.
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Ping told France’s Europe 1 radio early Thursday: “Everyone knows that he (Bongo) cheated”.
Bongo won 49.80 percent of votes, compared with 48.23 percent for his main rival Jean Ping, with a turnout of 59.46 percent, according to results announced region by region by Interior Minister Pacome Moubelet Boubeya.
An EU observer mission criticised a “lack of transparency” among institutions running the election and said Bongo had benefited from preferential access to money and the media. Elections in Africa are frequently disputed but it is unusual for results to be overturned.
“It’s going to be hard to get people to accept these results”, one member of the electoral commission told AFP, asking not to be named.
Bongo, 57, has ruled the oil-producing central African nation since 2009, when he succeeded his father Omar Bongo, who ruled for 32 years.
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“The Secretary-General urges all concerned political leaders and their supporters to refrain from further acts that could undermine the peace and stability of the country”, he said in a statement.
