Dozens of islanders locked up as grim history continues for Annobón

Annobón’s 5,000 inhabitants have faced human rights abuses and exploitation in recent years. Photograph: Robert Harding/Alamy

Earlier this year, residents of the small island of Annobón began noticing withering plants on their farmland and large cracks in their houses.

They attributed the damage to years of dynamite explosions linked to mining operations on the island, a province of Equatorial Guinea that lies in the Gulf of Guinea about 220 miles west of Gabon off the west coast of Africa.