Lagos, Nigeria – Residents of Annoben Island in Equatorial Guinea write to the government Malabo Last July, Moroccan Construction Company complained about explosives, and they did not expect the rapid end of Internet access.
According to several residents and rights groups, dozens of signatories and residents have been imprisoned for nearly a year, and the internet has been cut off since then.
Local residents interviewed by the Associated Press have left the island in the past few months, citing their lives and difficulties without the internet.
Banking services have been closed, hospital services for emergencies have been stopped, and residents say they have collected phone bills that they can’t afford because cell phone calls are the only way to communicate.
When governments shut down the internet, they often instruct telecom providers to cut off connections to designated locations or access designated websites, although it is not clear how Annobón is closed exactly.
Residents, together with activists, confirmed that the internet shutdown remains in effect at the moment when the Trump administration considers easing sanctions against the country’s vice president.
Moroccan company Somagec, who claimed to have contact with the president, confirmed the power outage but denied the help. The AP cannot confirm the link.
“The situation is very serious and worrying,” said a signatory who spent 11 months in prison.
In addition to the internet shutdown, “the phone is strictly monitored and free speech can pose risks,” said Macus Menejolea Taxijad, a resident who has recently begun exile.
This is just the latest crackdown on the country, including mass surveillance, according to a 2024 Amnesty International report.
The former Spanish colony of Equatorial Guinea is run by Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Africa’s longest-serving president, who served as president for more than a lifetime at the age of 83. His son served as vice president and was accused of spending state funds on a luxury lifestyle. He was convicted of money laundering and embezzlement in France and approved by the UK
On Friday, the UN Supreme Court rejected Equatorial Guinea’s request to return a Paris mansion confiscated as part of a corruption investigation, ruling that African countries did not indicate that it has a “reasonable right to return buildings.”
According to the World Bank, despite the country’s oil and gas wealth, at least 57% of its nearly 2 million people live in poverty. Meanwhile, officials, their families and inner circle live a luxurious life.
The Equatorial Guinea government did not respond to the Associated Press investigations about the island, its status and internet access.
Located 315 miles (507 kilometers) from the Atlantic Ocean, Annoben is one of the poorest islands in the country and often clashes with the central government. The island, with a population of about 5,000, has been seeking independence for many years as it accuses the government of ignoring its residents.
The Internet shutdown is the latest in a long history Malabo’s Activists say the suppression of the island’s political and economic needs is the regular arrests and the lack of adequate social facilities such as schools and hospitals.
“Their marginalization is not only from a political perspective, but also from a cultural, social and economic perspective,” said Mercè Monje Cano, Secretary-General of the Global Advocacy Group of the Unrepresented People and National Organization.
The new airport opened in Annobón in 2013, built by Somagec, promised to connect the island to the rest of the country. But locals and activists say there is not much improvement. The internet shutdown has deteriorated living conditions there and critical infrastructure collapsed, including health care and banking services.
In 2007, Equatorial Guinea reached a commercial agreement with Moroccan construction company Somagec, which developed port and power transmission systems in the western and central Africa.
Annobón’s geological formation and volcanic past make the island rich in rocks and expands Malabo’s The impact of the Gulf of Guinea, which is rich in oil. Somagec also established a port, according to activists, which has explored the extraction of minerals since Annobón began operating on the island.
Residents and activists say the company’s explosives and construction activities in open quarries have been polluting its farmland and water supply. The company’s work on the island continues.
Residents hope to put pressure on authorities through complaints from July last year to improve the situation. Instead, Obiang subsequently adopted a repressive tactic, currently widely used in Africa to cut off the internet to curb protests and criticism.
This is different from the past Malabo The internet was restricted during the election.
“This is the first time the government cuts off the internet because a community has complaints,” said Tutu Alicante, an Annobon-born activist who runs the EG Justice Human Rights Group.
Felicia Anthonio, an internet rights advocacy group, now says the power of the internet enables people to challenge its leaders to threaten the authorities. “So the first thing they have to do during the protests is to follow the internet,” Antonio said.
Somagak CEO Roger Sahyun denied the help of the closure and said the company itself was forced to rely on private satellites. He defended that blasting of explosives was crucial to his construction project, saying all necessary assessments had been conducted.
“After conducting geotechnical and environmental impact studies, the current site confirming the open quarry is confirmed as the best place to meet all criteria,” Sahyoun said in an email.
Meanwhile, residents continue to suffer losses from internet shutdowns, and even private satellites deployed by companies are unavailable.
“Annobón is very far away, away from the capital and (the rest) continent,” said Alicante, an activist on the island. “So you keep people there without going into the rest of Africa…and Incommunicado.”
