Two young girls have recently absconded from The Gambia to a West African country (place withheld for their security). As it turns out, one of them had been testifying in journalist Alagie Ceesay’s case currently going on in the courts. Faturadio was in touch with both girls even before they left The Gambia because they wanted to tell their story so that the whole world knows in case something happens to them during their escape plans. Their story uncovers an elaborate scheme to frame Alagie in a case that has already raised eyebrows both at the local and International level.
The charges against Ceesay never made any sense from the beginning, but just like all things Gambia these days, none was surprised. However, even the most casual observers of the current deplorable conditions in that country will be shocked at the nature, scope, and frivolousness of this saga. It all boils down to this: journalist Alagie Ceesay, 25, was dating 23 year old girl who unknown to him was being repeatedly abused by President Yahya Jammeh according to the girl herself and one of her friends who escaped with her to a neighbouring country. Both girls were hired as “Protocol Officers” at the State House. Now that we hope we have prepared you enough for what you are about to read, here then is how the story goes:
A match made in heaven
Journalist Alagie Ceesay and his girlfriend according to their family sources have been dating for some time. The two were inseparable and had a special bond. Both being in their early twenties, they share likings and enjoyed each other’s company. Alagie frequented her home and would be mostly found hanging out with the family. Despite the occasional fights characteristic of dating relationships among young Gambians, they always seemed to easily make up and put issues behind them real quick. Their relationship was no secret – pretty much everyone in their respective neighborhoods knew how close they were.
Alhagie’s girlfriend gets hired as “Protocol Officer” at the State House
Then all of a sudden Alhagie’s girlfriend was hired as a Protocol Officer (PO) at the State House. At least that was what she thought until she found out this was no ordinary Protocol Officer Job – her role was to sleep with the President, just like all the other young girls supposedly hired as POs, whenever he wishes. She was even moved to the State House where she was given a place to stay. To sweeten the deal, her mother was also offered an apartment to stay in at no cost. According to State House sources, the mother has been served a notice to leave since when the absconding of her daughter became public.
Who is Jimbe Jammeh?
Upon her arrival at the State House to start her duty as a Protocol Officer, Alhagie’s girlfriend was introduced to a lady by the name Jimbe Jammeh. As would later find out, Jimbe was not just any regular employee at the Presidential palace, she is the main liaison acting as the person in charge of all the girls supposedly hired as Protocol Officers, attending to all their needs and being the only person allowed to mingle with them. In this role, she also acts as the main pimp, bringing the girls when needed by Yaya, intimidates their boyfriends (this lies at the crux of journalist Alagie Ceesay’s case), takes them to perform abortions when they get pregnant, and terrorizes any that is suspected of getting a cold feet or presents a risk of talking to third parties about the whole affair. Jimbe therefore is central to all the abuses going on in the compound. She is herself believed to have been originally brought there to satisfy President Jammeh’s insatiable taste for young girls, who also have to pass the virginity test in order to be accepted. She was therefore raped repeatedly prior to graduating to her current role in which she also still occasionally sleeps with the president.
Jimbe’s probing questions about the private life of Alhagie’s girlfriend
Jimbe started to quiz Alhagie’s girlfriend about her private life at the very moment they were introduced. Unbeknown to her, Jimbe was not engaging in regular BFF chitchat, but instead was gathering information that would later be used to terrorize any potential Jammeh competition. This was exactly the fate another guy who was unlucky to be dating yet another young girl who Jammeh developed interest in. This particular girl’s case was also reported by Faturadio when she absconded to Senegal after escaping from a similar situation of being used as a sex toy by President Jammeh and repeatedly abused on a daily basis. This particular girl was once the Miss July 22nd winner, another event organized mainly to lure young girls into Jammeh’s net and will be the subject of yet another exclusive report by Faturadio. Alhagie’s girlfriend confided in Jimbe that she was dating a guy by the name Alagie Ceesay and he is the Manager of Taranga FM Radio Station. During the same conversation, she told Jimbe that Alagie was in Dakar for a short visit. Upon further investigation, Jimbe found out that another Protocol Officer, who would later abscond alongside Alhagie’s girlfriend, was a good friend of this same journalist Alagie Ceesay. It seemed Jimbe had all the information she needed to chart her plot against this innocent victim.
Beginning of Alagie’s troubles
Jimbe, armed with the information that Alagie was in Dakar, immediately contacted the National Intelligence Agency, who are always her chief collaborators in this game of abuse and intimidation, asking them to interrogate Alagie when he returns from his trip. The NIA obliged and Alagie was released after a brief interrogation. Alagie as it also turned out, was on the radar of this same agency all along for a totally unrelated matter but for an issue that had incensed President Jammeh. The radio station he manages is well known for translating into local languages all the newspaper stories (including those of the Opposition PDOIS affiliated paper called Foroyaa which is mostly very critical of the regime) for each day, and was even bold enough to play a very strongly anti-Jammeh song, “KU BUKA C GETA GI” released by the self-exiled artist called Killa Ace. So there was already an unsettled matter between the two sides, this case of jealousy and effort to rape his girlfriend only added fuel to the fire.
Yahya escalates the situation
From that initial interrogation by the NIA, Alagie’s situation only got worse. President Jammeh, it seems had made up his mind to put this “nuisance” away for good. What happens next was the subject of another investigative report by Faturadio.com. You can read that here: http://www.faturadio.com/index.php/en/component/k2/item/763-how-the-nia-framed-alagie-ceesay-using-his-own-telephone-number
