Daniel Angel Masie Nchama has arrived back in Equatorial Guinea after being coerced into fighting for Russia in the conflict in Ukraine. The young man was reunited with his parents at the Malabo airport following his journey home on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
Nchama departed his home country in December 2025 after a Cameroonian contact in Russia misled him with promises of bodyguard training and employment. Following a short stay in Russia and two months of instruction in Murmansk, he was forcibly relocated to a combat zone in Donetsk, Ukraine.
His return highlights a broader issue, as the All Eyes on Wagner group identified over 1,400 Africans recruited to assist Russia between early 2023 and late 2025, with hundreds of those individuals confirmed dead. Equatorial Guinean officials have since vowed to dismantle the networks responsible for deceiving young men into these dangerous military roles.
