It was 8am on Thursday, 26 of November, 2009 in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, when the call came in. The caller spoke French and said he was Chief Protocol Officer for His Excellency President Theodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea.
He said the President had agreed to my interview request and that my cameraman and I needed to be ready in 15 minutes as Presidential Protocol Officers were on the way to pick us up. I wanted to scream "NO" - I have a whole day of filming planned on an oil platform in the Gulf of Guinea, West Africa for my report about Equatorial Guinea's oil wealth.
But I knew I was in no position to say no.
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