EBIBEYIN, Equatorial Guinea – A tense situation is unfolding in the border town of Ebibeyin, Equatorial Guinea, where, according to residents, hundreds of foreigners, primarily Cameroonians, have been detained by the military for over two weeks.
“This is a terrible thing happening here,” said a resident who wished to remain anonymous due to safety concerns. “For more than two weeks now, foreigners have been arrested by the military and locked up at the football stadium in Ebibeyin. There are more than 300 Cameroonians.”
The resident expressed fear and called for international attention. “The Cameroonian government needs to know about this and the world in general,” they pleaded. “How can a small country like Equatorial Guinea be doing this to strangers?”
Reports indicate a complete lockdown on movement for foreigners in Ebibeyin. “Just as I’m talking to you, all of us foreigners are indoors,” the resident said. “No one can go out. Some are even dying inside the house of starvation because they cannot go out to find food.”
The situation seems particularly concerning for Cameroonians who were not detained in Ebibeyin. “Some of the Cameroonians that were arrested from places like Mongomo, Bata, and other small villages have been thrown back at the border in Kyé-Ossi,” the resident added.
Equatorial Guinea has a history of arbitrary arrests and human rights abuses, according to reports by Amnesty International and the US Department of State. Efforts to reach Equatorial Guinea’s government for comment on the current situation in Ebibeyin were unsuccessful.
