Malabo – Authorities in Equatorial Guinea say they have foiled a coup attempt thanks to information received from Africa Corps, the Russian Defence Ministry-linked force operating in several African countries.
According to French weekly Jeune Afrique in an article published today, September 4, the seizure of an arsenal hidden in a container at the port of Bata triggered the operation that led to the foiling of the coup attempt.
The operation was launched at the end of June 2026, but was only made public now, following a report from Russian intelligence. Moscow is said to have alerted the government in Malabo of the arrival of a container carrying weapons from a European country. Based on intercepted telephone communications, Russian authorities reportedly informed the government that, according to the reconstruction provided by the Malabo authorities, the weapons were intended for a coup attempt.
Since 2024, Russia has strengthened its presence in the security sector, with an estimated 100 to 300 Africa Corps instructors and military personnel deployed mainly in Malabo and Bata, tasked with protecting and training presidential forces. Moscow is also reported to have established a dedicated intelligence “station” in the country.
The government accuses Filiberto Manale Andem, a prominent figure and self-styled “military chief” of CORED , of orchestrating the coup attempt and arranging the shipment of weapons. Local security forces have carried out numerous arrests among the associates of Manale Andem and of CORED leader Salomon Abeso Ndong. The opposition coalition’s leadership has firmly rejected the allegations, arguing that the Malabo authorities fabricated them in an attempt to discredit their opponents.
Equatorial Guinea is no stranger to coup attempts, all of which have so far been thwarted by the regime of Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has been in power since the 1979 coup d’état in which he overthrew his uncle, Francisco Macías Nguema.
In 2004, a group of mercenaries led by Simon Mann, a former member of the British special forces, was arrested in Zimbabwe before they could fly to Equatorial Guinea to overthrow Obiang. On December 27, 2017, another coup attempt was foiled when Cameroonian and Equatorial Guinean authorities arrested at the border between the two countries a group of mercenaries from Chad, Sudan and the Central African Republic .
Equatorial Guinea is at the centre of the interests of major powers because of its oil and gas reserves and its strategic geographical position. France and the United States had targeted Obiang and his son, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, the current vice president and likely successor, accusing them of corruption, embezzlement and money laundering, thereby opening up space for China and Russia to expand their influence.
Now the Trump administration is moving closer again to the Obiang family, also in an effort to prevent China from building its first naval base in the Atlantic Ocean.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.