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One of the main opponents in Equatorial Guinea, Gabriel Nse Obiang Obono, head of the Citizens for Innovation party, was arrested Thursday in Malabo with supporters. His arrest comes a few weeks before the general elections on November 20. An election in which President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, 80, including 43 at the head of the country he leads with an iron fist, will run for a 6th term.
The headquarters of the Citizens for Innovation party had been besieged for several days by the police, who finally launched an assault on Thursday, September 29, according to information given by state television. The TVGE affirms that a policeman was killed during the operation and evokes several wounded.
According to this same channel, Gabriel Nse Obiang was arrested because he did not respond to a summons from the public prosecutor as part of an investigation into attacks, which the government claims to have foiled, against embassies and homes of ministers. Supporters, who were at party headquarters, were also arrested.
Citizens for Innovation won one seat in the 2017 legislative elections, the other 99 were won by the PDGE, of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema. Gabriel Nse Obiang’s party was banned a few months later, in February 2018.
On social networks, in recent days, the opponent accused the head of state of wanting to eliminate him, so that he could not participate in the elections of November 20. The opposition party CPDS, Convergence for Social Democracy, meanwhile condemned Thursday’s assault.