Equatorial Guinea Brands Exiled Opposition Terrorist, Offers Rewards
Equatorial Guinea · Politics
Key Facts
- The country — Equatorial Guinea is a small oil and gas producer on Africa’s Atlantic coast, with roughly 1.7 million people. President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has ruled it since 1979.
- The opposition — Its organised opposition works from abroad. CORED is a coalition of those exiled groups, and its leaders live outside the country.
- What changed — Relatives of CORED leaders have been detained since late August 2026. That was around the time of a coup report which the vice president denied.
- What happened — On Monday 21 September 2026 Prosecutor General Anatolio Nzang Nguema Mangue declared CORED a terrorist group and a criminal organisation, at his headquarters in Malabo, the capital.
- The money — Rewards totalling €10 million (about US$11.49 million) are offered to people, institutions or governments that return 12 named members, led by Salomón Abeso Ndong.
- What it means for you — This is a prosecutor’s resolution, not a court ruling, and none of the 12 has been tried over the new claims. Political risk there now reaches citizens living abroad.
- Still open — The instrument is Resolution 08/2026, dated 14 September 2026. It says its findings will be expanded as investigations advance and new data are obtained.
The prosecutor’s office in Malabo has declared an exiled opposition coalition a terrorist group and offered rewards for returning its leaders. No court has ruled on the designation or on the new allegations.
Leaders of an Equatorial Guinea opposition coalition in exile now have rewards on offer for their return to the country. On Monday 21 September 2026, the state prosecutor declared the coalition, CORED, a terrorist group and a criminal organisation.
The office offered rewards totalling €10 million (about US$11.49 million) to anyone who returns 12 of its leaders to the country. Equatorial Guinea is a small oil and gas producer on Africa’s Atlantic coast, ruled by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo since 1979.
A resolution signed a week earlier
Prosecutor General Anatolio Nzang Nguema Mangue, the chief public prosecutor, presented the decision at his headquarters in Malabo. The capital sits on Bioko island, off the coast of Cameroon.
The legal instrument is Resolution 08/2026, dated Monday 14 September 2026. Ahora EG, a Malabo news site, published its text on the day of the announcement.
The government’s own press office carried the designation too. It lists the national penal code and a regional anti-terrorism financing regulation as the legal basis.
That regulation belongs to CEMAC, the six-nation Central African economic and monetary community. It deals with money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
CORED stands for the Coalition of the Opposition for the Restoration of a Democratic State. It gathers opponents who live abroad, with representatives in France, Gabon, Canada and the United States, according to the prosecutor.
Who is on the list and for how much
The largest reward, €1.5 million (about US$1.72 million), is for Salomón Abeso Ndong, whom the prosecutor names as CORED’s president. In local currency that is about 984 million CFA francs (about US$1.72 million).
Filiberto Ntutumu Mabale Andeme, named as secretary general and head of intelligence, carries €1 million (about US$1.15 million). Five members carry €800,000 each (about US$919,000 each).
Another five carry €700,000 each (about US$804,000 each). Conversions use the European Central Bank reference rate of 1.149 US dollars per euro on 21 September 2026.
The CFA franc used in Equatorial Guinea is pegged at 655.957 to the euro, according to the French Treasury. The whole package is therefore worth about 6.56 billion CFA francs (about US$11.49 million).
According to the resolution, the money goes to “people, institutions or governments” committed to fighting organised crime and terrorism. They must return, or cause the return of, the named members to Equatorial Guinea.
The resolution adds that “these points will be expanded as investigations advance and new data are obtained.”
What the prosecutor alleges
The resolution says the coalition was formed in exile to change the government by force, including by attempting to kill the president. Nobody has been tried on these new claims, and no court has endorsed the designation.
It cites a December 2017 incursion by mercenaries near Kié-Ossi, a town on the border with Cameroon. It says members were jailed in Judgment No. 1/2018 of the Litoral Provincial Court.
That case produced the mass verdict of 31 May 2019, delivered in Bata. The charges were “treason, crimes against the head of state, possessing and storing weapons and financing terrorism.”
The resolution further alleges contacts with armed groups including Al Qaeda, Boko Haram and the Nigerian separatist movement IPOB, the Indigenous People of Biafra.
The trial drew heavy criticism. Human Rights Watch said 112 defendants were convicted in it, with sentences of up to 97 years.
The rights group said the prosecution offered “little or no evidence” against most defendants. Some defendants testified that their confessions had been obtained under torture.
Freedom House, a United States democracy monitor, reported that two CORED members seized in Togo were among the accused. Abeso Ndong was tried in his absence.
A coup story that Malabo itself denied
The designation follows a confusing month. On 4 September 2026, the Paris-based magazine Jeune Afrique reported that Malabo had foiled a coup plot with Russian intelligence help.
The report linked a container seized at the port of Bata to CORED figures, noted Agenzia Fides, the Vatican’s missionary news agency. Coalition leaders called the allegations a government fabrication, according to EFE, Spain’s news agency.
Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, the president’s son, denied the story the same day in a written statement, EFE reported.
He wrote that no alert came “from the Russian, American or Chinese intelligence services, nor from any other country”.
He also denied that weapons had been seized at Bata. Yet relatives of CORED leaders have been detained since late August, Jeune Afrique reported on 16 September.
Four were still being held at that point, the magazine said. It names the coalition’s alleged military chief as Filiberto Manale Andem, the same man the prosecutor lists as Filiberto Ntutumu Mabale Andeme.
CORED acknowledged he had sent a container destined for his family, but said it held only consumer goods. Jeune Afrique’s account was relayed by the French site Exclusif.
In a right of reply to the magazine, Miguel Oyono Ndong Mifumu, Equatorial Guinea’s ambassador to the European Union, went further. He said the country was “at no time” the victim of a coup attempt.
Authorities now describe the container as a customs fraud case involving food, medicines and consumer goods, according to the same report.
No response from CORED to the terrorist designation itself had been reported by Tuesday 22 September 2026.
Why it matters beyond Malabo
The reward is open to foreign governments as well as individuals.
CORED is based abroad. Several of those named are listed as its representatives in Canada, the United States, Gabon and Nice, France.
Returning anyone would still require extradition or deportation under the host country’s own laws. No public response from those governments had been reported by Tuesday.
The move also lands amid scrutiny of Equatorial Guinea’s security apparatus abroad.
Spain’s National Court is investigating Carmelo Ovono Obiang, a son of the president and vice-minister of external security. The alleged offences are terrorism, kidnapping and torture against opponents.
The case concerns the alleged disappearance of four members of MLGE3R, a small exiled Equatorial Guinea opposition movement. He was summoned to testify by video on 5 February 2026, the Spanish news agency Europa Press reported.
He did not testify. In March 2026, Judge Santiago Pedraz confirmed his indictment and an international arrest order, Europa Press reported. No trial has been held.
For foreigners working in Malabo and Bata, mostly in energy and diplomacy, the practical effect is limited for now. The political signal about space for dissent is harder to miss.
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What is CORED?
CORED is the Coalition of the Opposition for the Restoration of a Democratic State, an Equatorial Guinea opposition alliance based abroad. The prosecutor names Salomón Abeso Ndong as its president and says it has representatives in France, Gabon, Canada and the United States. On 21 September 2026 the prosecutor declared it a terrorist group and a criminal organisation.
How much is Equatorial Guinea offering?
The resolution sets €10 million (about US$11.49 million) in total for 12 named members. The top reward, for Abeso Ndong, is €1.5 million (about US$1.72 million). The others range from €700,000 (about US$804,000) to €1 million (about US$1.15 million).
Has any court convicted the 12 over these claims?
No. The designation is a resolution of the prosecutor’s office, not a court judgment. None of the 12 has been tried over the new allegations. Abeso Ndong was tried in his absence in 2019 over a 2017 coup attempt. Human Rights Watch criticised that trial for lack of evidence.
Did Equatorial Guinea say it foiled a coup this month?
Not officially. Jeune Afrique reported a foiled plot on 4 September 2026. Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue denied it the same day, according to EFE. CORED also rejected the allegations as a fabrication.
Sources: Ahora EG on Resolution 08/2026 and the rewards, Government of Equatorial Guinea press office on the designation, EFE via Infobae on the vice president’s denial of a coup plot, Agenzia Fides on the Jeune Afrique coup report, Exclusif, citing Jeune Afrique, on detained relatives, Europa Press via Infobae on the Spanish summons, Europa Press via Infobae on the arrest order, Human Rights Watch on the 2019 coup trial, Freedom House on CORED defendants, French Treasury on the CFA franc peg, European Central Bank reference exchange rates
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