Fifteen Chadian mercenaries allegedly involved in a failed coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea in 2017 have been sent back to Chad following a pardon from the president, as reported by state television on Friday.
The group departed Equatorial Guinea for the Chadian capital, N’Djamena, on Wednesday and was then handed over to the Chadian government.
In January 2018, Security Minister Nicolas Obama Nchama revealed that authorities had stopped a coup the previous month, stating that a faction of foreign mercenaries from Chad, Sudan, and the Central African Republic were “recruited by Equatorial Guinean militants from certain radical opposition parties.”
In March 2019, over 130 individuals faced trial for their alleged involvement in the thwarted coup. Those convicted were given prison sentences ranging from three to 90 years.
The small Central African nation, abundant in oil reserves, has been under the firm rule of 82-year-old President Teodoro Obiang Nguema for more than 45 years following a coup in 1979, making him the world’s longest-serving president.