A young Gambian girl who has confessed of being a lesbian and who was arrested some two years in the Gambia and charged with involvement in homosexuality and other indecent acts, has told the Fatu Network that she and many other young girls are being recruited into lesbianism by powerful members of the women’s wing of Dictator Yahya Jammeh’s ruling APRC party.
In a rather chilling interview which was broadcast on The Fatu Network’s popular Today Show program, the girl (name withheld) who is only 24 years old said she was first recruited into lesbianism about four years ago by a certain wealthy woman who is also a prominent member of the ruling APRC party.
The girls, who is a vulnerable prey having lost both parents at tender age, said at the time of her recruitment, life was so difficult and “that’s what my recruiters used to get me into this life of lesbianism,” she said.
Contrary to what many believe that Gambia is a highly traditional and religious society, the young girl said “homosexual acts are very in The Gambia.” She said some wealthy women in particular use their privilege position to lure young girls into the act.
She said in order to escape the wrath of the dictatorship, some of the wealthy women engaged in lesbianism are also openly involved in supporting and funding the ruling party. “They are also involved in bribing the security forces especially the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) to ensure that they escape any arrest.”
She however said in the unfortunate scenario where an inexperience intelligence officer arrest culprits, it is her and other innocent, vulnerable young girls who are compromised to the NIA where they are sexually abused and tortured.
Narrating her ordeal in the hands of the NIA which was an uncomfortable listen, the young girls who has since fled the Gambia to a neighboring country, said while under detention, her torturers were inserting objects into her private part punctuated with beatings for doing what they called an abominable act.
She said even within the NIA, there are some officers who are rumored to be involved in homosexual acts. She cited several incidents where some alleged gay intelligence officers would force young men into sexual relationship only to refuse paying them. Most of these young men she said normally end up being arrested and brutally tortured.
She said as far as Dictator Yahya Jammeh is concerned, the issue of Islam is only a lip service because neither the dictator nor his supporters believe and behave Islamic in any way. She said all the noise about homosexual acts is meant to drum up financial support from Arab countries.
But in actual fact she said: “Yahya Jammeh and his entire security apparatus all know who the homosexuals are in the Gambia…..because they mingle with them every day and these people are also responsible for funding many ruling party activities.”
