By Lamin Njie
JCB Mendy on Wednesday deleted pictures from the phone of a Gambian Talent Promotion reporter who was reporting on International Workers’ Day.
The Gambia International Airlines chief security officer was at the Independence Stadium in Bakau on Wednesday as GIA staff joined staff of other government and non-government departments for the May Day Sports.
Haddy Sowe and another cub reporter Salimatou Bangura were taking pictures of the various departments taking part in the sport activities when their phone got seized by Mendy.
“We were assigned to take the photos of the different organisations present there. I was going with a colleague of mine. We were using a mobile phone. When we reached at the GIA I was taking photos and they just started shouting, ‘stop taking photos, why are you taking photos without taking permission from us?’ Haddy Sowe told The Fatu Network Wednesday.
Haddy added: “I told them that, ‘we are the press, we are from Gambian Talent.’ They said, ‘what proof do you have? Do you have press cards to show that you are from the press?’ A lady was there saying, ‘no you shouldn’t take pictures because we don’t know if you are press or not.’ JCB said we can go but the other lady said it was not okay because we could publish them, if we haven’t in fact published them.
“I asked my colleague to go and call our overall boss that we went with. While she was gone, the noise was too much. I didn’t even know how he (JCB Mendy) came to have the phone and deleted the photos of GIA – all the photos I took of GIA and returned the phone back.”
The Fatu Network contacted JCB Mendy and he admitted seizing the phone and deleting the pictures.
He said: “Before snapping somebody, can’t you alert the individual? Which they didn’t do (sic). I just wanted to stop the commotion because when I got to their phone, where we were celebrating my birthday which is today, on the whole they took my picture unaware (sic).
“So when they came back the second time, when they were taking our pictures my guys retaliated. In fact they didn’t even come with their identity (sic). The commotion started rosing (sic) and I tell them now let me get your phone… So I had to delete all those pictures and I leave them to go (sic).”
