Lamin Tunkara was arrested around the same time that the 44 innocent Ghanaian migrants trying to stowaway to Europe were executed in cold blood in The Gambia, and he hasn’t been seen since then. His family has visited every Police Station, prison, and security outpost with no luck in locating him. The news of the murder of the Ghanaians raised no eyebrows or concerns among Lamin’s family members and searchers since no one could imagine any link he could possibly have with that case. They were mistaken – his disappearance and eventual demise had everything to do with the Ghanaians, in fact, he was killed with them.
After an extensive investigation and enquiry, The Fatu Network has finally cracked this case that has for years been considered cold by all and sundry, thanks to a keen listener of the network who felt the time has come to spill the beans and end the agony of the family. Here was how Lamin ran out of luck:
The former National Intelligence Agency (NIA) Director General, Daba Marena who would later himself be killed in a very mysterious circumstance, had shared an intelligence briefing with Jammeh that mercenaries from Burkina Fasso were planning an attack against the regime in the country on July 22, 2005. Shortly before the NIA’s so-called intelligence, the Spanish Embassy in The Gambia had sent a letter to The Government of The gambia through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informing them about information they received that some illegal migrants were planning to join a Spanish ship docked at the Banjul Ports to stowaway to Europe.
The task of investigating the Spanish Embassy’s alert was given to the Interpol wing of The Gambia Police Force under the purview of yet another man who would later die under mysterious circumstances, Numo Kujabi. Numo’s investigation concluded – which was later reported to the then Inspector General of Police, Ousman Sonko, that the ship in question mentioned by the Spanish Embassy had left The Gambia docks two days prior to his presentation of the investigation report.
Intelligence sharing among security agencies is standard operating procedure (SOP) in Western countries – and for good reason. What happens next will vindicate this policy in a profound fashion. It is unfortunate that security agencies in The Gambia operate totally independent of one and other, thanks to the paranoia of Yahya Jammeh since he wants all roads to lead to him, instead of creating a web of information infrastructure that allows for the proverbial left hand to know what the right hand is doing.
The NIA got intelligence that mercenaries were coming into the country to launch an invasion, while the Police got information that a group of migrants were heading into the country to join a ship to Europe. The NIA didn’t know about Police information and the Police on the other hand didn’t know about the NIA intelligence, and they were both referring to the same group – a perfect storm in the making.
Then came Friday, July 22 and the celebration of that fateful day in The Gambia’s political history (it was the day Jammeh, with few other military officers staged the coup that brought him in power) was in full swing. President Jammeh was at the July 22 Square watching a musical jamboree when Daba Marenah came and whispered in his ears information that the mercenaries he (Daba) had briefed him about some time ago had finally arrived. You guessed it right – as it turned out, it was the Ghanaian migrants who had arrived at Barra waiting to cross over to Banjul. When they realized the ferry had closed for the day, they decided to board small boats instead. They had arrived in Barra from Mbour, Senegal where their agent, one Kofi gave them an instruction that one Lamin Tunkara will meet them on arrival in Banjul. Daba’s alert to Yahya came as soon as the first group of migrants entered the boat.
President Jammeh gave orders for the Ferry to resume and also for the Navy boat to go pick the migrants up. By the time the Navy arrived, some of them were already arrested by the Military and Paramilitary Police and taken to former Member of Parliament, Baba Jobe’s house in Kotu and killed. Baba himself also later died under suspicious circumstances in a case that continues to baffle Human rights groups, investigative Journalists, and observers.
When the rest were arrested, they were interrogated about their mission to the country. During that interrogation, they produced Lamin Tunkara’s contact information as their agent in Banjul to proof that they were migrants merely trying to stowaway to Europe. This would turn out to be the catalyst for Lamin’s demise. The Investigators contacted Lamin under the false pretense that they wanted to travel to Europe and would like him to meet with them at West Field Junction. It was at this spot that Lamin was arrested on a Saturday at 11am, taken to the Kairaba Police Station where he was questioned about his role. According to sources, Lamin admitted that he was dealing with the agents in Dakar during questioning. He was later moved to Mile 2 on the Monday after that weekend and the rest is history – A credible security insider contacted The Fatu Network with information that Lamin was later killed with the rest of the Ghanaians under the orders of Yahya Jammeh.
The Network has contacted a senior police officer who was The Crime Management Coordinator at the time of the incident, but he has declined to comment.
