The Government of Equatorial Guinea has imposed a restriction on its citizens, prohibiting the downloading and sharing of multimedia files via mobile data on WhatsApp.

This move comes after the government issued directives to telecommunications companies, urging them to implement measures that would limit access to inappropriate content.

Also, the government suspended all civil servants who have had sexual relations in the offices of the ministries.

Another measure was the installation of surveillance cameras in all government offices.

The tapes
Hundreds of sex tapes involving a high-ranking Equatorial Guinean civil servant with other mens’ wives have done the rounds on social media, prompting the authorities to attempt to curb their spread.

In the videos the married director of the National Financial Investigation Agency (ANIF), Baltasar Ebang Engonga, is seen with various partners – including the wives of prominent officials – at his office in the finance ministry.

On Monday, the country’s vice president Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue announced on X that the government would order the “immediate suspension of all civil servants who have had sexual relations in the offices of the ministries, as this constitutes a flagrant violation of the code of conduct and the law on public ethics”.

It is not the first time that sex tapes involving civil servants have been leaked on social media.

But the affair has blown up to unprecedented proportions due to the notoriety of the officials involved.

Last week, Obiang said that he had given 24 hours’ notice to Equatorial Guinea’s telecommunications ministry, regulator and telephone companies “to curb the distribution of pornographic videos that are flooding social networks in Equatorial Guinea”.

“As the government, we cannot continue to see families destroyed,” said the vice-president in charge of defence and security.

According to accounts first spread by Whatsapp groups and then posted to Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X, Engonga shot more than 400 pornographic videos in his office.

Nicknamed “Bello” on account of his good looks, Ebang Engonga is a married father and the son of Baltasar Engonga Edjo, the current Chairman of the Commission of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community.

He is also related to the country’s long-serving president.

The sex tapes were leaked on social networks at a time when he had been remanded in custody at Malabo’s infamous Black Beach prison in a case of embezzlement of public funds, according to state television station TVGE.

Equatorial Guinea’s chief prosecutor Anatolio Nzang Nguema, assured TVGE that if medical examinations revealed that Ebang Engonga was “infected with a sexually transmitted disease” he would be prosecuted for an offence against “public health”.

The flow of internet traffic, and in particular the downloading of images, has been severely disrupted in the country after the authorities took measures to curb the sex tapes’ spread, witnesses told AFP.

Social media is awash with speculation that more videos involving other individuals, both men and women, could be released in the next few days.

CCTV
In another post on Tuesday, the vice president said the government would install surveillance cameras in all government offices.

“We have taken this measure to ensure compliance with the law on public officials and to eradicate improper and illicit behaviour.

“We will not admit any fault that denigrates the integrity of our administration and those who engage in these practices will face drastic measures,” he wrote.

Equatorial Guinea has suspended all officials who had sexual relations in the offices of ministries.

Announcing the decision on Monday via X, Teodoro Nguema, Equatorial Guinea’s vice-president, said the government would take “severe measures” against such acts.

“Today, we will proceed with the immediate suspension of all officials who have had sexual relations in the offices of the country’s ministries,” the statement reads.

“The Government will take severe measures against these acts, since it constitutes a flagrant violation of the Code of Conduct and the Public Ethics Law.

“This action is a decisive step in our policy of zero tolerance towards behaviors that undermine the integrity of the public service.

“Ethics and respect are fundamental in our administration, and we will not allow irresponsible behavior to compromise public trust.

“Responsibility and professionalism must be the pillars of our work as servants of the State.”

In a follow up post on Tuesday, the vice-president said the government would soon install surveillance cameras in all government offices.

“We have taken this measure to ensure compliance with the law on public officials and to eradicate improper and illicit behaviour,” he said.

“We will not admit any fault that denigrates the integrity of our administration and those who engage in these practices will face drastic measures.”

BACKGROUND

The Central African nation has been embroiled in a sex scandal since officials searched the home and office of Baltasar Ebang Engonga as part of an investigation into alleged fraud.

Engonga is director general of the country’s Anti-graft National Agency for Financial Investigation (ANIF).

Investigators reportedly uncovered about 400 explicit videos purportedly featuring the ANIF boss and multiple women.

Among the discoveries were sex tapes of Engonga seemingly having romps with his brother’s wife, his cousin, the sister of the president of Equatorial Guinea, the wife of the director general of police, and about 20 wives of ministers, among others.

The now viral videos were filmed in his office, hotels, and toilets — allegedly with the consent of participants.

Oyewole Adeyeye, the chief judge of Ekiti state, is dead.

Adeyeye reportedly died in the early hours of Tuesday.

He was said to have been unwell since July 12, 2023.

The illness followed severe injuries he sustained when a section of the state high court complex collapsed on him.

The association of international female lawyers (FIDA) in the state has issued a condolence message.

“With deep sorrow in our hearts and in total submission to the will of God, FIDA Ekiti consoles with the family of the Chief Judge of Ekiti State, Hon Justice Oyewole Adeyeye on his call to glory,” the statement reads.

“May He find rest with his maker.

“I pray that God grants the family, the Judiciary and the people of Ekiti State, the grace to bear this irreparable loss.
Adieu great one.”