Since the end of October, the security forces of Equatorial Guinea have begun to discreetly arrest undocumented foreign residents.

“Since Monday November 1, compatriots have been arrested and detained at the Malabo Multisports Complex alongside many other foreign nationals living in Equatorial Guinea.

A similar operation has been taking place on the mainland since Saturday October 30,” Desire Jean Claude Owono Menguele, Cameroon’s ambassador to Equatorial Guinea said in a statement.

As Josimar Oyono Eseng, a prominent human rights fighter in the Equatorial Guinea, has reported, the raids have intensified, mainly in the city of Malabo and adjacent districts.

Due to the lack of sufficient space at the Malabo central police station, the detainees are taken to the new football stadium in the Banapá neighbourhood, where they are overcrowded.

In the city of Bata, where the effects of the raids are less visible, detainees are crammed into the central police station and, according to information published on social networks, a citizen of Burkinabe origin died of asphyxiation.

According to Paul Chouta, a prominent Cameroonian information activist, based on the information gathered from his compatriots who were victims of the raid, “foreigners living in Equatorial Guinea have been victims of systematic checks followed by arrests”.

A non-governmental organisation Transparency International Portugal (TI Portugal) commented that the news of ” the alleged death of a citizen of Burkina Faso in these raids is deeply disheartening.”

Radio Macuto reported on another case of human rights violation in connection with mass-detentions in Equatorial Guinea.

A letter written on a banknote was found in the Banapá neighborhood. The letter is written by a Cameroonian in French. It says “My name is Mathieu, I am Cameroonian, I was arrested by the gendarmes a week ago. I am being held at the Malabo football stadium. I am being tortured, they want me to confess that I was preparing a coup. Help me!”

The state media and the high officials have not yet commented on the situation. Previously, a similar operation in 2016 led to the expulsion of several hundred Cameroonians whom Equatorial Guinean government said “lack proper identification documents.”

The raids are a visible sign of a panic, reigning in the ruling elite, as the rumors of a possible coup d’etat has been circulating in the country.

At the mid-October, the citizens of Equatorial Guinea received messages sent from Cameroonian phone numbers, saying the opposition is preparing a coup.

According Radio Macuto, Equatoguinean government have been looking for the solutions to a possible coup-situation, as well as the wat to strengthen their military capacities in the wake of descending security situation throughout West Africa region.

In this framework the Vice President of the country Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue met the Israeli private security companies in July 2021 and made a working visit to Moscow to sign a contract with Russian PMC.

Both visits did not bring any fruits, adding pressure to the Equatoguinean authorities.

Vanguard News Nigeria