Former President Goodluck Jonathan has returned to Abuja after he was evacuated from Guinea-Bissau following the outbreak of a military coup in the West African nation.

Jonathan arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Thursday.

The former president was seen descending the stairs of a Guinea-Bissau government aircraft on Thursday night in a viral video, showing a warm reception from a group of supporters.

Jonathan was in Guinea-Bissau as head of the West African Elders Forum Election Observation Mission to monitor last Sunday’s presidential and legislative elections before Wednesday’s military action to remove the government.

Heavy gunfire was reported near the presidential palace, while soldiers barricaded key access points in the capital.

General Denis N’Canha, head of the presidential military office, announced that a command “composed of all branches of the armed forces” had assumed leadership of the country “until further notice.”

Incumbent President Umaro Sissoco Embaló told France24 by phone, “I have been deposed.” AFP reported that he was inside a building near the military headquarters “with the chief of staff and the minister of the interior.”

Both Embaló and opposition candidate Fernando Dias had claimed victory in Sunday’s polls, with provisional results expected on Thursday.

The military said it had uncovered a plot involving “national drug lords” and the importation of weapons “to alter the constitutional order.”

By Thursday, the military announced the reopening of the country’s borders. “All borders are now open,” General Lansana Mansali, Inspector General of the Armed Forces, told AFP.

In a joint statement on Wednesday, Filipe Nyusi, former president of Mozambique and head of the African Union Election Observation Mission; Issifu Kamara, head of the ECOWAS Election Observation Mission; and Jonathan condemned the coup, describing it as an attempt to derail Guinea-Bissau’s democratic process.

Jonathan’s team was still carrying out its assignment when the military announced that it had taken control of the government.

Following reports that Jonathan was trapped, the House of Representatives during Thursday’s plenary urged the Federal Government to deploy all diplomatic channels to secure the former president’s safe return.

The Federal Government later issued a statement confirming that Jonathan was safe and had left Guinea-Bissau.

“Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is very safe and out of Guinea-Bissau. He left with a special flight with members of his delegation, including Mohamed Chambas,” the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Ebienfa, told journalists on Thursday.