The issue of policing has been and continues to be – even if mostly contentious, a matter of national dialogue and concern in every country where there exists even a small semblance of rule of law.  Since Gambia doesn’t fall into that category for obvious reasons – there is a total breakdown in rule of law and even a semblance of justice is nonexistent, it will be foolhardy of us to expect such.

So when sources on the ground alerted Fatu Radio to current methods being used by the feared National Intelligence Agency (NIA), it didn’t surprise us that they sound similar to those used by the NAZI police called Gestapo in Germany in the 1940s.  What is so troubling about one particular style is how it is being utilized – all in the name of “national security”.  The idea of presumption of innocence is enshrined in all constitutions in every decent country in the world.  As part of that concept, the fact that you therefore have to have probable cause to launch an investigation in anyone’s actions, is also codified into all those laws to be sure abuse of the citizenry doesn’t become common place.  The system in The Gambia is totally devoid of these two concepts, hence the reason why even private citizens using state machinery to settle personal scores have become common place.  The point here is; why should security forces be recording even casual conversations of people who are not under any investigation or suspected of committing any crime?  Terrorizing the citizens is the only thing that comes to mind.  This is nothing short of a “fishing expedition”.

Members of Gambia’s security forces especially the NIA have now been given flash drives that have inbuilt recording devices in them.  This equipment was just recently supplied to them and a lot more are being ordered.  So what looks like a casual wearing of a key chain with different gadgets on it could turn out to be a dangerous ploy to implicate innocent citizens for crimes they didn’t even intend to commit, let alone execute.  Election season is upon us and Dictator Yahya Jammeh figured the good old intimidation tac-tic cannot wait any longer.

When Faturadio contacted Gambia observers to comment on this, one of them raised the issue of courts continuing to remain oblivious to these evidence fabrication schemes.  “In light of these revelations, why are these mercenary judges continuing to make any evidence from the NIA admissible in those courts”, he rhetorically said with indignation.  Another questions why private citizens and political parties are not taking issue with these tac-tics and playing into Jammeh’s hands by respecting any decisions from the courts, especially when no due process is followed from the beginning of an investigation to the time of being taken to court and finally being sentenced.  “The process is so tainted, no citizens in any country in the world who take their rights seriously will allow any decision from it to stand” she concluded.

Faturadio will continue to monitor this new development.  We are hoping the citizens will not be intimidated no matter the Gestapo style tac-tic employed by the regime.

Alhaji Ceesay and Ebou Jobe left the comforts of their successful American dreams to go set up a Computer company in their homeland, The Gambia.  Unbeknownst to them, the environment that they left behind when they came to America to pursue higher education is far removed from the one that obtains when they decided to go back and participate in “national development”.

The Gambia by then had become toxic beyond repair – the state machinery is often used to settle personal scores and grudges, the Dictator running the country, Yahya Jammeh had encouraged a type of division never seen before, people get killed or tortured over the flimsiest reasons, disappearances had become a norm.

So when these St. Augustine’s High alums decided to cash their bank accounts, retirement accounts, and stocks to answer Yahya Jammeh’s call for nation building, they didn’t realize they were making a fatal error.  They kissed their wives and kids a goodbye and boarded planes bound for Senegal, from where they proceeded to Banjul.  Loaded with a lot of U.S dollars, they wasted no time in renting a nice apartment in an exclusive part of town and settling down to put their idea to work.

Growing up, Alhaji and Ebou were raised in a Gambia where people were trustworthy, one could have confidence in a gentleman’s agreement and handshake, people generally left their doors wide open throughout the day without any fear of break-ins, it was common for people to return money found on the streets to the rightful owner.  They were naïve to think that was still the case when they returned, so were never suspicious when strange individuals walked around their neighborhood looking for any clues as to what they brought from the United States with them.

Information has been scanty as to how these two ended up at the feared National Intelligence Agency (NIA), but they somehow did.  There has been information that the dollars that they brought attracted unwanted attention on them from a regime that wastes no time in conning innocent businessmen and even private individuals out of their hard earned money.  This place, according to an unimpeachable source, was where the Junglers (Yahya Jammeh’s illegal security group known for its vicious brutality and killings of innocent people) picked them up in the middle of the night.  Specifically, Sanna Manjang and Nuha Badjie were the two that came for them.  They said they got directives from Yahya to transfer Alhaji and Ebou to the Maximum Security Wing of the Mile2 Prisons.  Sanna and Nuha directed the driver to go towards Cape Point Junction by Sting Corner, from where they headed for Jeshwang.

What happened next has been the subject of speculation.  Some believe they are still alive and being transferred from jail to jail, but some say they are killed and buried in one of the graves in the greater Banjul area.  But what we can confirm, contrary to what Yahya Jammeh has been telling the world, is his regime definitely has these two.  They should be decent enough to give answers to Alhaji and Ebou’s families as to what happened to them, or hand them back if they are still alive since they haven’t been charged with any crime.

“This is going to be your last breath,” they told Imam Baba Leigh as they threw earth over his bound body. Then they stopped and laughed. It was a mock execution, one of many tortures the Muslim cleric told Amnesty International he endured during his months in captivity.

His crime? Criticizing the president.

Welcome to the Gambia, home to one of the most vicious and bizarre dictatorships in the world. Since taking power in a 1994 coup, President Yahya Jammeh has ruled Africa’s smallest mainland country through fear, force and what we can best describe as creepiness. He prefers that subjects address him by his full name — His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya Abdul-Azziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh — and says he can cure AIDS. The 49-year-old also imprisons people for alleged witchcraft and has threatened to decapitate all homosexuals, because they are “anti-God and anti-human.” Oh, and there’s his penchant for firing live rounds into crowds of peaceful demonstrators. Anyone who speaks up against his cruel, outlandish ways risks kidnapping, torture or murder, like Imam Leigh.

In all this, Jammeh has made his country the neighborhood freak. The rest of West Africa has taken big strides toward democracy over the past decade, what with the election of the first female African president in Liberia and Ghana’s status as rule-of-law beacon. Yet the Gambia, 50 years independent, is where human rights go to die. In 2013, it up and left the Commonwealth, a 54-nation grouping of former British colonies, suggesting to diplomats that Jammeh refused to tolerate any international criticism (he’d gotten a spate of it the previous year for resurrecting the firing squad).

Perhaps inevitably, attempts to topple Jammeh’s regime also take on a certain degree of bizarreness. The latest, in December 2014, was led by two Gambian-Americans with some military training, according to an FBI affidavit. In August, the men bought weapons (including eight semi-automatic rifles) in the U.S., disassembled them, swaddled them in used clothing and stuffed the whole thing into 50-gallon barrels that were shipped via container to the Gambia. In early December, the men arrived in the country, rented cars and drove them into the front and back of Jammeh’s palace. They figured Jammeh’s guards would flee — being unwilling to die for the dictator — but, oh, they were wrong. (The U.S. has charged the men under the Neutrality Act, which bars Americans from taking part in private military actions against “friendly nations.”)

Absent a coup or burst of energy from the global community, 2016 will likely see Jammeh re-elected with a fraudulent majority.

Indeed, though Jammeh is feared, he appears to have the genuine admiration of many of his citizens and some of the oblivious tourists who visit the beautiful country dubbed the “Smiling Coast of Africa.” For some 50,000 Britons each year, the Gambia remains a holiday destination — Jammeh keeps it safe, plus it’s a six-hour flight from Heathrow and a hell of a lot cheaper than Marbella. Tourism and peanut exports are helping the tiny state’s economy grow at a rate of6.3 percent.y Downing/Corbis

And even as most residents are poor, Jammeh scores well in the health department. Unlike its West African neighbors, the Gambia has avoided the Ebola epidemic, and its child mortality and maternal death rates are lower thanthe regional average. The country also has achieved one of Africa’s highest vaccination rates, “which should certainly be applauded,” says Jeffrey Smith, advocacy officer at the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights.

To be sure, validating these claims is hard without a free press. In 2004, reporter Deyda Hydara was mysteriously gunned down after criticizing Jammeh’s regime. The president’s tight grip on the media also allows him to indulge his penchant for self-promotion. The newspapers report various honors: Jammeh being named the Pride and Champion of African Democracy, for instance, or his winning from President Barack Obama a “Platinum Award.” Neither exists outside Jammeh’s nightmare-scape.

Obama did shake hands with him once — which Jammeh likes to use as evidence of the leaders’ closeness. And the U.S. hasn’t much pressured the regime: It has charged those coup perpetrators, after all, under the auspices of the Gambia being a “friendly nation,” and has stomached the alleged kidnapping of two American citizens, in 2013, by Gambia’s National Intelligence Agency. (Their whereabouts remain unknown.) Sometimes the U.S. issues outraged statements. But “if we can’t do anything about this isolated country with no economic ties to us, where will we? He’s the lowest hanging fruit,” says Smith.

For now, Jammeh continues to act with impunity. Absent a successful coup or some burst of energy from the international community, the 2016 election will likely see Jammeh re-elected with a vast, fraudulent majority — just like the last election, and the one before that, and the one before that. In the meantime, human rights advocates say that Jammeh’s grip has tightened since December’s foiled coup. Some 30 family members and acquaintances of the coup leaders have been detained without charges, some of them as young as 14, and François Patuel, a campaigner at Amnesty International, says the organization worries that “repression will intensify.”

Last year in the Gambia, a bit of hope appeared when members of the U.N.’s Human Rights Council were allowed into the country to investigate. Alas, they were forbidden to enter its detention centers. As Patuel puts it, “With Jammeh, it’s always one step forward, three steps back.”

The Daily Global Watch, an international newspaper is reporting that senior security officials have been arrested In The Gambia and supposedly put under house arrest. The most prominent so far named is General Saul Badjie, a close ally of President Yahya Jammeh. It has to be noted that since last week The Fatu Radio has been inundated with different kinds of information from people claiming to be within the State House who have been reporting about Saul Badgie’s arrest and or disappearance.

Just this morning, Sunday, December 27, 2015, one of our trusted sources has sent us a disturbing note pleading with The Fatu Radio to mount an urgent inquiry on the whereabouts of General Saul Badjie, whom he said has not been seen throughout the festive period neither at The State nor at any of his usual places. The source said this is highly suspect and is causing a lot of rumors and panic even among the soldiers at The State House. Meanwhile, The Fatu Radio is working hard to confirm the veracity of this latest information on the arrest of security chiefs in The Gambia including Gen. Saul Badjie. Below is the link to the story by The Daily Global Watch.

http://dailyglobewatch.com/index.php?url=2015/12/breaking-general-saul-badjie-placed-under.html

Satang Njie, a 26 years old, left her home country, The Gambia last year with nothing but a promise of a human trafficker that once she arrives in Lebanon, all her dreams of securing success so she can take her poor mother out of poverty will become a reality.  She paid D10,000 ($250) to one Edrissa Jarju of Kololi Tavern, the agent who recruited her for what was described to her as a “dream job” overseas.  It will turn out to be a decision she would not live to regret.  She hailed from Bwiam, West Coast Region where her family still resides.

Upon her arrival in Lebanon, Satang was shocked to find out that she was instead being sent into a life of servitude and abuse, left to the mercy of her patron called “Madame”.  The Madame seized her passport and confiscated all her relevant documents right away, with a strict warning that she should never ask for them unless she is able to come up with $3,000.  The salary of a maid in Lebanon is $150, an amount that can barely meet one’s monthly needs let alone according the individual a surplus to send back home to help poor parents.

Despite her disappointments and harsh working conditions (working mostly from 5AM to 1AM, 7 days a week), she kept a positive outlook on life and even described by roommates and friends as jovial, happy, and always very friendly.  She took all her suffering and bad luck in strides, always inspiring the other girls in similar conditions – they were all victims of the same human trafficking scheme.

Oddly enough, just a week prior to her death, Satang began to exhibit signs of extreme sadness – not intermingling like before, little mood for the usual jovial chit-chats characteristic of her, and going straight to bed once she arrives from her long day at work, even sleeping with her body facing the wall unlike before.  When a roommate enquired, she confided in her that her mother back in The Gambia is very sick and she doesn’t have the means to help the poor mom.  She had by this time quit her job with the Madame, leaving her documents there since she couldn’t come up with the $3,000 bailout money, and taken up a part time job (working time runs from the afternoon to midnight) elsewhere.

Satang left for work on Thursday, December 24, 2015 and never returned.  Her anxious roommates and friends became suspicious and worried.  They have no proper documents in this foreign country because of their illegal working arrangements, and because of this, they were scared to go to the authorities.  So when they got a phone call from a gentleman who introduced himself as a Police Officer, they were nervous about opening up since they figured her disappearance is after all a case of an immigration detention and that the rest of them could also land in the same trouble.  When the Officer realized that the girls were unwilling to meet him at a designated place “to discuss a matter relating to Satang”, he was forced to break the sad news to them on the phone that Satang was hit by several cars a night before and died.  It turned out; she was hit as she crossed a busy highway on her way home the early hours of Friday, December 25, 2015, the drivers didn’t even bother to stop.  The Police traced the roommates using contacts in Satang’s mobile phone.

Satang’s death marks yet another escalation in this tragic story of the thousands of dreams dashed – Gambian youths perishing either on their way to escape the harsh conditions of human rights abuses and near zero economic benefits in Gambia to try their chances abroad, or dying cruel deaths in these foreign countries that agent recruiters promise they will find gold and diamond only for them to find out too late that they were victims of human trafficking.  Gambia has already made name for itself as a major human trafficking hub – securing a catastrophic Tier 3 (worst level) ranking on the index according to U.S Department of State 2015 Trafficking in Person Report.

Meanwhile, her friends in Lebanon have contacted Satang’s parents in Bwiam and shared the sad news with them.  Another Gambian woman residing in Lebanon who goes by the name Catherine is helping the distraught roommates in making arrangements for Satang’s body, which is currently at the hospital.  Catherine, who has lived in Lebanon for 20 years, has told Fatu Radio that she is waiting on Satang’s dad’s nod as to whether to send the body back to The Gambia or bury her in Lebanon.  It is also worth noting that when the roommates contacted the Gambia based human trafficker’s (Satang’s recruiter) agent in Lebanon for help, they were told he cannot help and has no responsibility to do so.

The devastation of Human Trafficking was the subject of a story on Faturadio a couple of weeks ago.  That story highlighted the ordeal being faced by Gambian girls in Kuwait also brought to that country by human traffickers with the false promises of securing good jobs and making a lot of money, only to find themselves in a web of abuse.  We will be focusing on these stories more in order to sensitize our youths about the dangers of these evil scheme.

Sadly, for Satang, any redress is too little too late, and that is an indictment of all of us, including the United States, European Union, United Nations, ECOWAS, African Union, and the rest of the International community.

A disturbing news just arrived at the Faturadio news desk that, if true, will point to a very dangerous development in the state of affairs in The Gambia.  A group in town calling itself Boko Haram has on Thursday, December 17, 2015 committed a gruesome murder in Serekunda that has left even the Police who have over the years seen some of the worst crimes in the African continent because of the high level of poverty and destitution – thanks to President Yahya Jammeh’s reckless style of ruling, shocked and bewildered.  Jammeh recently declared Gambia an Islamic State in a move that left the Gambians and International community dumbfounded.

According the distraught source, five young boys who hail from Faji Kunda, Nema, Abuko, and Tallinding stabbed another young boy called Chaan from Wellingara to death and later went around town bragging about it wearing their blood socked clothes to show as evidence of their action to the public.  They are all underage – most of them in Grade 9.  One of the alleged attackers named Muhammed was said to have been surrendered by his father to the Police.  This, after coming home with a bloodied shirt and telling his brother in the local language they had just killed someone that day.  The father overheard the conversation and came to enquire.

To his amazement, the son looked like a butcher from an abattoir.  He dragged him to the Police Station right away where the son is helping with investigations into the matter.  Four of the five have all been apprehended, the alleged leader of the group is still at large and being hunted by law enforcement as we speak.  The case has been moved from Bundung Police Station where it was originally brought, to Serious Crime Unit.

The murdered was trying to defend a friend who was at the time being accosted according to our source.  Faturadio is still trying to determine if these kids have actually any connection to Boko Haram in Nigeria or just inspired by the brazen acts of violence against innocent civilians by that group.  The latter is a more likely scenario.  Either way, this will constitute a very troubling development since Yahya Jammeh’s turning Gambia into an Islamic State announcement.  Before that declaration, numerous complaints have been brought to Faturadio with people expressing fear regarding the rise of radical Islam in that country.

The Talibes (students) or Marrkash as they call them in the Gambia have been raising eyebrows in the country for a while now.  Stories after stories detail how random acts of violence on the streets against especially women deemed by them to be wearing clothes that are not acceptable in Islam have been arriving at our news desk for some time now.

They have also been having escalating tensions with local mosque committees because they have been insisting that those mosques are not practicing true Islam.  It should be noted that this same Boko Haram group did make their presence in the country known last year causing a lot of fear at the time but those fears subsided when nothing was heard of them after that.  So their coming out after Jammeh’s declaration confirms the concerns raised by Gambians and the International community that Gambia could now be a hotbed of the kinds of terrorist acts that have become all too familiar to Nigerians, Malians, and others.  Senegal recently had to ban the Burqa due to concerns over terrorism.

The killed young boy is the only son of his mother who is a food vendor according to our source.   This is a developing story; we will be keenly following it.

Lamin Camara, headmaster of Demfaye Basic Cycle was arrested on Friday December 17 and taken to Bansang  Police Station where he has been held in a cell without charge well beyond the 72 hours stipulated by the constitution . While the government is yet to proffer any formal charges , sources familiar with the case have indicated that it revolves around a shipment of donated items sent to his school and community that he was transporting to Demfaye after clearing it at the Port on the 11th of December.

Having gone through nearly 20 check points from Banjul without incident , Mr Camara and his team of volunteers who were carrying the donated items in two hired trucks were stopped at a checkpoint in Kaur . They were promptly ordered off the trucks and told to pack off the road . The license of the driver was then confiscated and was told a bribe had to be paid. After much delay , the facilitator of the donated items Karamba Touray was contacted to explain the situation who reiterated what he had always stressed to Lamin which is that Allah has forbidden the giving and taking of bribes and that it is also against the laws of The Gambia .

The policeman insisted on extorting the bribe and refused to return the driver’s license and instead wrote an abstract note on a flimsy piece of paper as a substitute for the checkpoints after Kaur that the driver  would encounter on the remainder of the journey to Demfaye and back. The extortion note was forwarded to Karamba Touray , who then proceeded to call the officer demanding the bribe to urge him to return the drivers license and to not insist on unlawfully demanding money from the driver .

It was understood that the police was furious that a citizen was demanding he respect the law. Karamba then proceeded to write a public note on his Facebook page lamenting the bureaucratic problems he encountered clearing the 40 foot container that drove the cost of clearing as well as the flagrant demand by this one police officer and his accomplice to be bribed. Fatu Network understands from sources the police officer in question a sergeant Bayo was arrested following the posting of the complaint and is still in custody. Principal Camara who  is an award winning educator ,  is held in very high regard by the people of Demfaye and communities throughout CRR. He is involved mosque building projects, coordinates support for religious schools and helps distribute support to hundreds of poor people from orphans to widows quietly and for Allah’s sake.

Sources have indicated that the police leadership are attempting to persecute an honest and upright citizen who refused to violate the law . Holding the rogue police officer who violated his oath and then turning around and holding Lamin for the legitimate public complaints of Karamba Touray is a travesty. The right thing is for Lamin to be released immediately and unconditionally and for him to receive a public commendation for following the commands of Allah and upholding the laws of The Gambia . Karamba Touray’s public opinions are his and trying to persecute a good servant of the people who is working tirelessly to make his community better is wrong.

Authoritative sources in government have informed Fatu Radio that the Gambian Dictator President Yaya Jammeh has given orders for the reopening of lotteries and other gambling games in The Gambia, nine months after he abruptly and unilaterally ordered for their closure. Our informant has indicated that so far the Gambia National Lottery (GNL) has been informed of the decision by the President to allow them operate effective January, 2016. GNL, the premier of betting games in The Gambia is partially owned by Banjul City Council (BCC).

Since dictator Jammeh’s office announced the banning earlier this year, Banjul City Council has been making fruitless efforts, including using APRC political bigwigs to reach the President to make an announcement, which would have excluded them from the ban.

We have gathered information that sometimes in April this year, the Mayor of Banjul and his senior management held a meeting with the Clerk of the National Assembly with hopes he can use the Assembly to reach to the President and make him understand the amount of revenue the Council is losing as a result of the ban. Similar efforts were also made by owners of private betting games who at the time of the banning had already paid their operational licenses and tax for the year 2015, an amount which in itself is exorbitant and by all indications, they never got refunded.

Is could be recalled that on March 1, 2015, The Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS) in its prime news announced the economically unwise and defrauding decision by the Gambia’s authoritarian leader to ban “lotteries, casinos and all forms of gambling in The Gambia with effect from Monday, 2nd March 2015” urging all operators of those services and establishments to cease operations. The news release further said “Gambians are predominantly followers of Islam and Christianity and both religions explicitly or implicitly strictly forbid adherents from engaging in gambling”.

The new directive allowing the lotteries to start operating is simply an indication that Jammeh’s regime is feeling the brunt of the bad state the economy and is making all efforts to boost its tax revenue in 2016. The Finance Minister while presenting the 2016 budget estimates to National Assembly Members said 2016 will be a difficult year for the Gambia as it continues to grapple with public debt and a huge deficit in 2015. The economic situation is worsen by the fact that many partners including EU has given its back to The Gambia as a consequence to Yaya Jammeh’s lack of respect for humanity and his lack of accountability and respect for financial principles.

Again, the U-turn goes to show how confuse dictator Jammeh is. Two weeks ago, he unconstitutionally proclaimed Gambia ‘an Islamic State’ and turn  back to lift the ban on gambling, a practice he said is unreligious.

The menace of human trafficking in the Gambia still continues unabated. For the past four years the Gambia has been classified as a “source and destination country for women and children subjected to forced labour and sex trafficking.” Women, particularly those between the ages of 19 and 40 are the most affected where they are trafficked to mainly Middle Eastern countries of Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar and now Turkey to a lesser degree.

Notwithstanding legislation outlawing all forms of human trafficking, Gambian law enforcement officers are accused of dubious and also dangerous collaboration with traffickers to make fake documents to enable women travel to the Middle East under the pretext that they are provided jobs.

But investigations by Fatu Radio have revealed that immediately the girls land in their final destination in the Middle East, they are handed over to their supposed “employers” who turn them into what rights groups called “domestic slaves.”

Just one week ago, a group of girls managed to contact Fatu Radio from Dubai where they claim to be undergoing scary, traumatic conditions of treatment in their hands of their “bosses” who have been denying them food and other basic necessities.

Amid sorrowful cries of support, the girls asked for help to rescue them from their “degrading and pitiful situation.” According to one of the girls who spoke on behalf of the group, they left Banjul in September 2015 after an agent named ‘Ousu’ took their passports and sent them to Kuwait to process their visa application. She said their visa and other necessary travel arrangements including air tickets—-booked for them online, were quickly processed and then they were transported to Dakar where they took their Ethiopian Airline flight via Ethiopia and then finally to Kuwait

Typical of any trafficking ring, the girls told Fatu Radio that each of them was forced to pay about D15,000 to “Ousu” the agent even before they were taken to Kuwait. All of them where promised jobs in hotels.

However, upon arrival at the Kuwaiti airport, the person who supposed to meet them, a certain Gambian lady based in Kuwait going by the name “Jarie” when contacted on her mobile phone was nowhere at the airport so the girls were forced to sleep in the arrival hall of the Kuwaiti International Airport.

According to the girls, “Jari” who was later found out to be one of the many agents involved in the trafficking arrived at the airport the following morning. But instead of taking them to the hotel where they were promised employment, they were escorted to another agent’s office called ‘Salma’. The girls said they met Salma who introduced them to homeowners in need of domestic workers whom the girls in their interview with Fatu Radio constantly refer to as ‘madams’.

Upon arrival in the homes of their new bosses (madams), the girls were immediately told that they were bought from the agents to serve as domestic workers. From then on they said, they would be forced to wake up at 5am daily, and would only go back to bed at 1am.

Investigations by Fatu Radio revealed that most of the girls suffered tales of cruelty and mistreatment at the hands of their “madams.” These include denying them food, denying them contacting their immediate family in the Gambia or their fellow domestic maids in Kuwait, and in some extreme cases, sexual exploitation. Some of the girls narrated harrowing cases of sexual advances by the husbands of their “madams” whenever the women bosses went out.

Following Fatu Radio’s interview with six of the girls, they have been provided temporal shelter in Kuwait. Their agents in the meantime have given stern warning to domestic employers that they should watch Gambians for they are looking forward to running away. This according to girls has risen the risk factors for other girls in captivity in Kuwaiti homes working as domestic slaves.

Three former officers of The Gambia Armed Forces have gone missing according to reliable sources who contacted Faturadio to bring attention to this urgent matter. Considering the toxic human rights environment in which they live, this could potentially turn out to be a case of yet another assassination directed at innocent citizens.

Combat Engineer Col. Arthur Gomez, State Guards officer, Captain Alieu Sanyang, and 2 BN (Farra Fenni barracks) officer, Captain Lamin Jabang were all recently dismissed from the army by President Yahya Jammeh. During the course of his career, Alieu was once promoted to the rank of Lieutenant only to be later unceremoniously demoted to the rank of Wo2 on orders of Jammeh, who is also the Commander in Chief.

What makes this matter even more troubling is the evidence, even if scanty, found in the car of one of the Jungular’s (Yahya Jammeh’s assassin team) car. Shortly after their dismissal, someone is said to have accidentally found the names of the soldiers written on a yellow sticker paper usually found in offices in this particular car belonging to the Jungular who has no prior connections to the three. This, according our sources familiar with the Modus Operandi of this illegally created group that is known for nothing other than terrorizing citizens and carrying out Jammeh’s assassination orders, points to a very worrying development in a case that continues to cause trepidation and serious concern among colleagues and family members of the three who have so far searched everywhere without success.

Some years ago, the same scenario played out when yet another three soldiers went missing from their barracks only to be later revealed by insiders that the three were in fact assassinated by the Jungulars led by Aziz Tamba, another enforcer of Jammeh’s at the time before his fall out with the brutal Dictator. The insiders revealed that the three were murdered at Bond Road, a spot on the outskirts of Banjul, the capital city. One of the soldiers murdered in that case left behind a young wife and a six months old baby.

The security forces continue to take the brunt of Jammeh’s madness. This has baffled many observers who insist that as people sworn to protect the constitution of the country, their inability to protect themselves against abuse only spells more trouble for the civilians who rely mainly on them for the protection of their sovereignty. The search for the three missing soldiers in the meantime continues.

Amid concerns over its human rights record, particularly minority rights, tourist arrivals to the Gambia continue to show disappointing figures. In June 2015, the Ministry of Tourism conducted a tour across Europe promoting the Gambia as a “safe” destination which “guarantees value for money” even for first time holiday makers.

But behind the frontage of gestational peace that the Gambia government wants the world to believe, the impression about the country even from repeat tourists is one of apprehension and fear. Just last week President Yahya Jammeh declared the Gambia as an Islamic state, further adding to the anxiety of the population over human rights abuses. Even the British Foreign Office in a travel advice on the Gambia has warned that “it hasn’t always been possible for the British Embassy to gain early access to detained British nationals in The Gambia” and that  “anyone travelling independently, should make sure next of kin in the UK have details of your itinerary and keep in regular touch.”

Now Sheraton Hotel, the only international brand hotel in The Gambia has finally left the Gambia since December 11^th. Two weeks ago the hotel administration had sent a bombshell memo to panic stricken staff informing them about its decision to cease operation.

Sheraton Hotel has since completely removed its flag from the magnificent edifice it built in the tourist resort of Brufut Heights some 22km from the capital Banjul. The poor economy, deplorable human rights, and fewer tourist arrivals have all been cited as reasons why Sheraton decided to disassociate itself with The Gambia.

The decision has left high spending British tourists with little options to stay in a serene environment of international standard. Of late, through a combination of Gambia’s isolationist policies and a clampdown on dissent, is forcing European tourists to move to the West African country Cape Verde known for its adherence to democratic principle as their dream holiday destination. A fewer high spending tourists choosing the Gambia as their ideal destination leaves the country’s tourism industry highly vulnerable as many of the repeat tourists spend less on things that will move the economy.

As expected, Sheraton’s decision to cease operations in the Gambia was met with shock, uncertainty, and trepidation by the employees. The hotel which has been operating in The Gambia since May 25^th, 2007, had 200 employees. The fate of the employees is still not known as no immediate announcement has been made yet whether new investors have taken over the brand hotel talk less of when they will start operations again.