Two American citizens are rotting in a West African prison right now — not because they broke any law, but because they stopped for fuel in the wrong country. And while bullets flew and bodies dropped around them during a deadly prison riot, the United States government has done virtually nothing to bring them home.
Fabio Espinel Nunez of New Jersey and Brad Schlenker of Chicago are private charter pilots who made a routine refueling stop in Conakry, Guinea, 45 days ago. They filed proper international flight plans. They received clearance to land — three separate times. They did everything by the book.
Their reward? Over 100 Guinean soldiers surrounded their aircraft with AK-47s the moment the cabin door opened. Armored vehicles. Screaming orders in French. And a one-way ticket to one of the most dangerous detention facilities in West Africa.
The situation just escalated from outrageous to life-threatening. Brad Schlenker managed to call his brother John during an active prison riot. What he described sounds like a war zone — because that's exactly what it was.
At 6:30 in the morning, prisoners revolted. Gates were smashed. Inmates flooded the common areas. Then military police arrived and did what military juntas do: they opened fire with live ammunition for fifteen to twenty minutes straight.
Bullets struck the building where our American pilots were being held. Tear gas poured into their cell block. They pressed wet cloth over their faces just to breathe. When the shooting finally stopped, approximately 35 inmates lay dead. Survivors from destroyed cell blocks were then crammed into the Americans' already overcrowded rooms.
Let that sink in, patriots. American citizens — guilty of nothing — dodging bullets in a foreign prison while bureaucrats in Washington shuffle papers.
Here's where it gets even more infuriating. A civil court judge in Guinea ordered the pilots released. The military junta that seized power in a coup simply ignored it. Three separate judges have cleared these men, and they remain behind bars.
Why? Because Guinea has no functioning democratic government. It's run by military strongmen who see American prisoners as leverage — or perhaps just a source of endless bribes. Brad's family has already spent thousands on "fines" and "bail payments" that vanish into the pockets of corrupt officials who simply demand more.
And our embassy in Conakry? No ambassador. Just junior staffers with zero authority to negotiate anything.
Source: Next News Network
