Foreign
Equitorial Guinea: S3x tape leak part of tussle over who becomes next President
What the rest of the world sees as a sex tape scandal could in fact be the latest episode in the real-life drama over who will become Equatorial Guinea’s next president.
Over the past fortnight, dozens of videos – estimates range from 150 to more than 400 – have been leaked of a senior civil servant having sex in his office and elsewhere with different women.
They have flooded social media, shocking and titillating people in the small central African country and beyond.
Many of the women filmed were wives and relatives of people close to the centre of power.
It appears some were aware they were being filmed having sex with Baltasar Ebang Mr Engonga, who is also known as “Bello” because of his good looks.
All this is hard to verify as Equatorial Guinea is a highly restricted society where a free press does not exist.
But one theory is that the leaks were a way to discredit the man at the centre of the storm.
Mr Engonga is a nephew of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema and one of those thought to be hoping to replace him.
Obiang is the world’s longest-serving president having been in power since 1979.
The 82-year-old has overseen an economic boom that has turned to bust as a result of the now-dwindling oil reserves.
There is a small, extremely wealthy elite, but many of the 1.7 million people in the country live in poverty.
Obiang’s administration is heavily criticised for its human rights record, including arbitrary killings and torture, according to a US government report, external.
It has also had its fair share of scandals – including the revelations about the lavish lifestyle of one of the president’s sons, now vice-president, who once owned a $275,000 (£210,000) crystal-encrusted glove worn by Michael Jackson.
Despite regular elections, there is no real opposition in Equatorial Guinea as activists have been jailed and exiled and those with designs on office are closely monitored.
Politics in the country is really about palace intrigue and this is where the scandal involving Mr Engonga fits in.
He was the head of the National Financial Investigation Agency, and worked on tackling crimes such as money laundering.
But it turned out he himself was under investigation.
He was arrested on 25 October accused of embezzling a huge sum of money from state coffers and depositing it in secret accounts in the Cayman Islands. He has not commented on the accusation.
Mr Engonga was then taken to the infamous Black Beach prison in the capital, Malabo, where it is alleged that opponents of the government are subjected to brutal treatment.
His phones and computers were seized and a few days later the intimate videos started appearing online.
The first reference the BBC has found to them on Facebook is from 28 October on the page of Diario Rombe, external, a news site run by a journalist in exile in Spain, which said that “social networks exploded with the leaking of explicit images and videos”.
A post on X the following day, external referred to a “monumental scandal shaking the regime” as “pornographic videos flood social media”.
But they are believed to have originally appeared one-by-one a few days earlier on Telegram, on one of the platform’s channels known for publishing pornographic images.
They were then downloaded on to people’s phones and shared among WhatsApp groups in Equatorial Guinea, where they caused a storm.
Mr Engonga was quickly identified along with some of the women in the videos, including relatives of the president and wives to ministers and senior military officials.
The government was unable to ignore what was going on and on 30 October Vice-President Teodoro Obiang Mangue (once owner of the Michael Jackson glove) gave telecoms companies 24 hours to come up with ways to stop the spread of the clips.
“We cannot continue to watch families fall apart without taking any action,” he wrote on X, external.
“In the meantime, the origin of these publications is being investigated to find the author or authors and make them answer for their actions.”
As the computer equipment was in the hands of the security forces, suspicion has fallen on someone there, who, perhaps, sought to trash Mr Engonga’s reputation ahead of a trial.
The police have called on women to come forward to open a case against Mr Engonga for the non-consensual sharing of intimate images. One has already announced that she is suing him.
What is not clear is why Mr Engonga made the recordings.
But activists have put forward what could be other motives behind the explosive leak.
As well as being related to the president, Mr Engonga is the son of Baltasar Engonga Edjo’o, the head of the regional economic and monetary union, Cemac, and very influential in the country.
“What we are seeing is the end of an era, the end of the current president, and there is a succession [question] and this is the internal fighting we are seeing,” said Equatoguinean activist Nsang Christia Esimi Cruz, now living in London.
Speaking to the BBC Focus on Africa podcast, he alleged that Vice-President Obiang was trying to politically eliminate “anyone who could challenge his succession”.
The vice-president, along with his mother, are suspected to be pushing aside anyone who threatens his path to the presidency, including Gabriel Obiang Lima (another son of President Obiang from a different wife), who was oil minister for 10 years and then moved to a secondary government role.
Those in the elite are thought to know things about each other that they would rather was not made public, and videos have been used in the past to humiliate and discredit a political opponent.
There are also frequent accusations of coup plotting, which further fuels paranoia.
But Mr Cruz also alleges that the authorities want to use the scandal as an excuse to crack down on social media, which is how a lot of information about what is really going on in the country gets out.
In July, the authorities temporarily suspended the internet after protests broke out on the island of Annobón.
For him, the fact that a high-ranking official was having sex outside of marriage was not surprising as it was part of the decadent lifestyle of the country’s elite.
The vice-president, who himself has been convicted of corruption in France and has had lavish assets seized in various countries, wants to be seen as the man cracking down on graft and wrong-doing at home.
Last year, for example, he ordered the arrest of his half-brother over allegations he sold a plane owned by the state airline.
But in this case, despite the vice-president’s efforts to stop the spread of the clips, they continue to be viewed.
This week, he tried to appear more resolute calling for the installation of CCTV cameras in government offices “to combat indecent and illicit acts”, the official news agency reported, external.
Saying that the scandal had “denigrated the image of the country” he ordered that any officials found engaging in sex acts at work would be suspended as this was a “flagrant violation of the code of conduct”.
He was not wrong that the story has attracted a lot of outside interest.
Judging by Google’s data, search enquiries that include the country’s name have shot up since the beginning of this week.
On Monday, on X, “Equatorial Guinea” was one of the top trending terms in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa – surpassing at times interest in the US election.
This has left some activists who have been trying to tell the world about what is really going on in the country frustrated.
“Equatorial Guinea has much bigger problems than this sex scandal,” said Mr Cruz, who works for a rights organisation called GE Nuestra.
“This sex scandal for us is just a symptom of the illness, it’s not the illness itself. It just shows how corrupt the system is.”
BBC
There has been no known deployment of US ground forces in Iran during the Middle East war, with the exception of a rescue mission in April for a downed American pilot.
Hatami did not provide any details on where or when the killing or capturing of US soldiers was expected to take place.
“Anyone who kills or captures and hands over an invading American military personnel will receive a reward equivalent to $30,000 or 5 billion tomans from the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Army,” Hatami said, using an informal unit equivalent to 10,000 Iranian rials.
The war between Tehran and Washington began on February 28 after the United States, joined by Israel, attacked Iran. It was followed by an April ceasefire after nearly 40 days of fighting, and a June framework for peace talks that later collapsed.
Iran and the United States have since traded fire sporadically, with fighting mainly centred in southern Iran and around the Strait of Hormuz.
AFP
The family of Philip Ifeanyi Elobuike, an indigene of Eziama Village, Ebe, in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State, has appealed to the public for assistance in locating him after his photograph surfaced on social media following nearly two years without contact.
Elobuike first travelled to the United States around 2004 and initially settled in the Los Angeles area of California. He later moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, before relocating to Dallas, Texas.
According to his family, Elobuike remained in contact with his relatives in Nigeria until around 2024, when communication with him suddenly stopped. Before losing contact, he was active on social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram.
His family had continued searching for him, and on August 11, 2026, they were relieved when his photograph surfaced on social media. The picture provided them with at least some reassurance that he was alive.
Elobuike Philip
However, contrary to reports circulating in some media outlets and on social media, Elobuike has not been reunited with his family or located by his kinsmen in the United States.
His relatives and members of the Nigerian community reportedly spent the entire day on August 12 searching for him in different parts of Dallas but were unable to locate him.
The family is therefore appealing to members of the public, particularly Nigerians and other individuals in the Dallas area, to assist in locating Elobuike and ensuring that he is safely reunited with his family.
The family also urged people to disregard reports claiming that he has already been found and reunited with his relatives, describing such reports as inaccurate.
Anyone who has information about Elobuike’s whereabouts or comes across him is urged to contact any of the following:
Dr. Fred Ngwu: (214) 418-8145
Moses Onyejekwe: (213) 479-2340
Law Okolo: (646) 302-2597
The family expressed appreciation to everyone who has shared his photograph and appealed for continued circulation of the information until he is successfully located.
No fewer than 205 Nigerians were deported from Canada in June 2026 as Canadian authorities intensified enforcement of the country’s immigration laws, according to official figures released by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
Immigration removal statistics published by the CBSA showed that 10,607 individuals were removed from Canada during the month, with Nigerians ranking among the top 10 nationalities affected by the exercise.
The figures indicate that Nigerians accounted for nearly two per cent of all removals carried out in June.
India recorded the highest number of deportations, with 3,323 nationals removed, followed by Mexico with 1,573. The United States accounted for 372 deportees, while Colombia and Romania recorded 354 and 293 removals respectively.
Other countries with significant numbers of nationals deported included Bangladesh, with 227, and Pakistan, with 207.
Explaining the rationale behind the removals, the CBSA said enforcing immigration laws was critical to protecting the integrity of Canada’s immigration system.
“Removing individuals who do not have the right to enter or stay in Canada is essential to maintaining the integrity of Canada’s immigration program and to ensuring fairness for those who come to this country lawfully,” the agency stated.
The latest figures underscore Canada’s continued enforcement against individuals found to have no legal right to remain in the country, as authorities seek to ensure compliance with the nation’s immigration laws.
The sentence was handed down on Friday by the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania after Adewale pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud.
Announcing the sentence in a statement on Friday, the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, David Metcalf, said Adewale was sentenced to 60 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
“United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Afeez Olatunji Adewale, 27, of Nigeria was sentenced today by United States District Judge Joel Slomsky to 60 months in prison and three years of supervised release for money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud related to the sexual extortion and death of a young man in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania,” the statement read.
According to Metcalf, Adewale was arrested in Nigeria on August 17, 2023, during a joint operation involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation targeting sexual extortion suspects preying on victims in the United States.
Metcalf noted that the convict was extradited to the US in February 2026 with the assistance of the US authorities and the Nigerian government.
Following his extradition, Adewale was arraigned and subsequently pleaded guilty in April this year.
Commenting on the conviction, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Philadelphia, Wayne A. Jacobs, said the sentence demonstrates that offenders cannot escape justice by operating outside the United States.
“Today’s sentencing illustrates criminals cannot evade justice, even outside of our borders,” Jacobs said.
“This final sentencing is the result of diligent investigative work and close coordination with our domestic and international law enforcement partners.
“Most importantly, today’s sentence represents our continued commitment to seeking justice for victims and their loved ones. Let today’s sentencing send a clear message: alongside our partners here and abroad, the FBI remains committed to identifying, locating, and bringing to justice those who prey on our communities.”
Also reacting, the chief of the Abington Township Police Department, Patrick Molloy, praised the collaboration between local and federal authorities.
“We are grateful for the federal agents and prosecutors who worked so hard to bring those responsible for this heinous crime to justice.
“This could have been anyone’s child, and while this prosecution may provide some measure of relief, the pain and suffering for this family will never go away,” Molloy said.
The US authorities said Adewale was the last of three Nigerian suspects convicted in connection with the sextortion case.
His co-defendant, Samuel Abiodun, pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud and was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment in June 2025.
Another accomplice, Imoleayo Aina, also known as “Alice Dave,” pleaded guilty to cyberstalking, interstate threat to injure reputation, receiving proceeds of extortion, money laundering conspiracy, and wire fraud, and was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment in October 2025.
“I hope that their arrests, extradition, and prosecution make clear that the DOJ will go after those terrorising our young people — no matter where the scammers and sextortionists may be.
“Though this case is now closed, our thoughts will remain with a family and community forever changed,” Metcalf noted.
The administration of United States President Donald Trump has finalised a new rule limiting most foreign students and exchange visitors to a maximum stay of four years, unless they obtain an extension from the federal government, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.
The new regulation, announced by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), ends the long-standing “duration of status” policy, which allowed international students to remain in the United States for the length of their academic programmes, provided they complied with visa requirements.
The restriction applies to holders of F-1 student visas and J-1 exchange visitor visas.
According to The Washington Post, the DHS acknowledged concerns that some students may struggle to complete their academic programmes within the new timeframe, noting that many bachelor’s degree programmes take more than four years to complete, while doctoral programmes often require significantly longer.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the change was necessary to strengthen immigration enforcement and reduce visa overstays.
“For nearly half a century, the outdated ‘duration of status’ system has compromised national security and created an environment ripe for immigration fraud,” Mullin said.
The policy has drawn criticism from NAFSA: Association of International Educators, which described the move as unnecessary and warned that it would create uncertainty for international students.
“DHS’ decision to end Duration of Status is a misguided and unnecessary policy shift that injects uncertainty, bureaucracy, and fear into a system that has long worked effectively,” NAFSA Executive Director Fanta Aw said.
The new rule comes as many US colleges and universities continue to face challenges in attracting international students amid tighter immigration policies and visa restrictions introduced by the Trump administration.
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