On July 28, 2021 a light helicopter of the French army type Fennec lands in Bata, the second city of Equatorial Guinea. The authorities decided to immobilize the aircraft and the six French soldiers on board were arrested.

This is not the first outside coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea, that was orchestrated by the Western powers. On December 27, 2018, 40 armed fighters from Chad, Sudan and the Central African Republic crossed the border: foreign mercenaries recruited from “radical opposition parties” within Equatorial Guinea had tried to attack the president.

The arrest of the fighters was followed by the arrest of perceived dissidents across the country. However, the observers point out that the opposition within the country has little opportunity to recruit, thus other, more powerful, players were highly likely to be involved in the operation.

Another famous attempt, also known as Wonga coup, took place in 2004. The main force of the hit group were South African mercenaries, but the coup caught international attention due to its backing by a prominent British financier, Mark Thatcher, son of Britain’s former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. 

The interception of French military on 28 July, which took place amidst legal attacks of Great Britain and France against Equatoguinean Vice-President, shows that the global West has not given up on the attempts to overthrow the government of the Republic.

According to the chief of the general staff of the air force of Equatorial Guinea, major General Fausto Abeso Fuma, the French aircraft that flew over the city of Bata on 28 July does not correspond to the one on the authorization they claim to have.

The general accused Paris of trying to undermine the security of the country. Fuma pointed out that the French have an annual authorization to land in Bata, but after checks, the registration of the aircraft does not match.

In the history of each French-speaking country in Africa, one can find a page on at least one coup d’état or the assassination of the president of a country (usually a Paris henchman). As soon as the French candidate began to promote African unity and anti-colonial ideology, and even worse, to spend funds for the development of his country, he inevitably found himself dead, in prison or completely disappeared in incomprehensible plane crashes.

Now the threat to the President of Equatorial Guinea is quite real: the deterioration of security situation in the region open doors for different destabilizations that can be used by both Western players and local terrorist groups.

The national Equatoguinean army is in a bad shape, that was proved by the recent Bata explosion, while armed groups from Mali, Niger and Nigeria, including those affiliated with large terrorist organizations like ISIS and Al-Qeada, have started migrating south seeking a base that will provide them with a stable financial source to expand the scope of their terrorist activities.

Equatorial Guinea rich in oil can become a new terrorist hub, which will lead to further collapse of the security situation in the region.

The Equatoguinean authorities make attempts to diversify their partnerships, especially those in the field of defense and security: for example, the high officials had meetings with Israel and the Russian Federation.

However, the analysts note that other international actors are not hasty to forge partnerships with Equatorial Guinea, as it is considered unstable and difficult to negotiate.

Vanguard News Nigeria