UN General Assembly
1979

293. When it took the helm of State in Equatorial Guinea on 3 August 1979, the Supreme Military Council peacefully invited Mr. Macias Nguema Biyogo to come forward and submit to the will of the people and the fate history had dealt him. His freedom and that of his family were guaranteed. Elders of the population were sent to him as emissaries to persuade him to offer no resistance and to show him that the people itself were calling for him to step down. Despite all these efforts, Mr. Maci'as shamefully urged a small group—his personal bodyguard, which consisted mainly of family members—to resist on his behalf, risking thereby the loss of innocent human life. And even worse, the ex-President, acting in a fanatical, desperate and irresponsible manner burned all the bank-notes of the National Treasury, which he had removed to his birthplace. These amounted to more than 5,000 million ekule—the local currency—as well as foreign currency to the approximate value of $10 million. Mr. Maci'as bombed several towns and massacred the peaceful and noble townspeople; children, women and old people were ruthlessly massacred in retaliation against the military uprising.