Last July, residents of the island of Annobón sent a petition to the country's government with complaints against a company whose constructions and blasting in open-pit mining are accused of polluting water and arable land.
Since then, the internet has been shut down on the island while several of the signatories have been imprisoned, according to local activists. The Moroccan company has, according to the activists, ties to the country's authoritarian government, which has been led by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo since 1979.
Banking services have stopped working, emergency healthcare has been disrupted, and the island's 5,000 inhabitants claim that they cannot afford phone bills when it is the only way to communicate.
Phone calls are closely monitored and speaking freely is a risk, says Macus Menejolea Taxijad, who lives in exile.
The company, which has collaborated with the country since 2007, tells AP that it is not involved in the shutdown and that it itself has been forced to rely on private satellites.
Despite the country's extensive revenues from oil and gas, 57 percent of the country's nearly two million inhabitants live in poverty, according to the World Bank.
Annobón is one of the poorest islands in the country, which consists of several islands and a mainland on the African continent. For years, the island has wanted to become independent as the government is accused of neglecting the inhabitants.
