Myanmar’s military on Monday staged a coup and took over power by detaining senior politicians including Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

An announcement read on military-owned Myawaddy TV, said Commander-in-Chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing would be in charge of the country for one year.

It said the seizure was necessary because the government had not acted on the military’s claims of fraud in November’s elections.

Reacting, Nigerian former president, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, in a post on his official Facebook page, said nation of Myanmar has had a long and arduous walk to democracy, stressing that see that hard-won constitutional order thwarted by the military coup was “heartbreaking to all true lovers of democracy”.

Jonathan condemned the forceful and illegal seizure of power in the country, adding that Democracy “must be protected because it has proven to be the best system that allows the people to have a say in how they are governed.

“I call for the unconditional release of Myanmar’s democratically elected leader, Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Aung San Suu Kyi.

“As a committed democrat, I stand in solidarity with democracy all over the world, and call for a return to constitutional order in Myanmar.

“I also urge all lovers of democracy around the world, to rally round the cause of freedom, and with one voice, call for the release of all democratically elected officials in Myanmar whose liberties have been truncated by this recent action.”