Gambia’s Interior minister has confirmed that the unmarked grave of late Solo Sandeng, the UDP militant that was allegedly tortured to death in 2016 under state custody in the regime of by the former President Jammeh has been discovered and remains exhumed.
Mai Ahmad Fatty made the confirmation on his Facebook page early Friday morning, March 10, describing it as an inconceivably painful experience.
The late Sandeng was arrested on April 14th, 2016, at Westfield Junction while staging a peaceful protest demanding for electoral reforms. He was whisked away and allegedly tortured to death by the feared agents of the former notorious National Intelligence Agency under former President Yahya Jammeh.
The arrest and killing of Sandeng prompted another peaceful march led by party leader Ousainou Daboe and executive members on April 16, demanding the government to produce him dead or alive. They were equally rounded up, detained, charged and remanded in prison custody until after few months when they were jailed each for three years imprisonment which they have been serving until their released when former President Jammeh lost the December elections.
Minister Fatty said he has constituted a Missing Persons Panel and it continues to work on all leads around the country. He said fourteen ‘junglers’ (assassin team) under former President Jammeh government are under custody, some already on trial for torture and murder, including former Intelligence chief Yankuba Badjie.
The Interior Minister says his Ministry will and continues to intensify its investigations into enforced disappearances and many others.
It is reported that the remains of Solo Sandeng are currently at the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital in Banjul for medical examination to ascertain the cause of death among others, which will be a material evidence in the investigations.
