It seems that Yahya Jammeh is making good on his promise to turn Gambia into an Islamic State, for in what seems like his opening salvo, female soldiers are being rounded up already – their crime? Skin bleaching. Most of those arrested so far are from the State Guard, they are being detained in a cell at the Fajara Barracks according to our source on the ground. The arrests were continuing as we went to press.
If you think this is bad enough, well; more bad news on the way – there is already a directive being written that, according to our sources, will instruct all female Civil Servants to wear head tie to work at all times, never to apply skin bleaching, and not add hair extensions.
At the time of his declaration to turn Gambia into an Islamic State, Yahya promised that nothing will change and that dress codes will not be affected at all. This act is a departure from that pronouncement. Observers are not surprised by the U-Turn though, because as one of them put it: “Jammeh is after all erratic, and his policy decisions depend heavily on his mood for the day and whatever sinister plans he has in mind.”
This development is very troubling in the sense that this moves puts the country on a slippery slope – more restrictive rules could be implemented that could plunge this already traumatized and terrorized nation into the abyss. Observers fear that terrorist organizations could already be viewing the Gambia as a place friendly to their cause and could therefore start making moves to set up base there. Just a couple of weeks ago, a group calling itself Boko Haram committed what even Police Investigators called one of the most brutal crimes they have seen in a generation – they brutally killed a young boy and went into town with their blood socked clothes to brag about it.
Faturadio will be paying close attention to this matter and report back any developments.
