Equatorial Guinea court sentences former anti-graft chief Baltasar Engonga to eight years in prison for embezzlement, while Nigeria’s IGP files forgery charges against activist Omoyele Sowore.
A court in Equatorial Guinea has sentenced former senior government official Baltasar Ebang Engonga to eight years in prison for misappropriating public funds.
Engonga, who previously served as the head of the country’s financial investigation agency, became notorious last year after explicit videos involving him and multiple women surfaced online.
Details of the Conviction
Hilario Mitogo, Press Director of the Supreme Court, confirmed that a Bioko provincial court found Engonga guilty of diverting money meant for official travel to his personal use. In addition to the prison term, the court imposed a fine of $220,000.
Engonga was tried alongside five other top officials accused of misappropriating hundreds of thousands of dollars in public funds. The scandal broke in November when investigations into the embezzlement case coincided with the viral release of videos showing him with women, including the spouses of other officials.
Separate Case Involving Omoyele Sowore
In a separate legal matter, Nigeria’s Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, has filed a three-count charge against activist and online publisher Omoyele Sowore.
The charge, filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja under case number FHC/ABJ/CR/374/2025, alleges that Sowore and his media outlet, Sahara Reporters, conspired to commit forgery on July 30, 2025.
Part of the charge reads:
“That you, Omoyele Sowore, and Sahara Reporters, on or about July 30, 2025, conspired between yourselves to commit a felony, to wit: forgery, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 1 (2) (C) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, Cap M17, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria.”
The IGP also accused Sowore of fabricating a police wireless message, purportedly signed by the Principal Staff Officer to the Inspector-General of Police.
