By Lamin Njie
A former orderly to AFPRC junta leader Yankuba Touray has revealed what he claims were the last words of the former commanding officer at Yundum Barracks Lieutenant Basirou Barrow moments before his arrest.
Ensa Mendy testifying before the TRRC on Thursday said the killed army officer was arrested as soon as he disembarked from his vehicle at around 1 am on November 11, 1994.
Mendy was among a group of well-armed soldiers who came to Yundum Barracks with at least four AFPRC junta leaders to crush the November 11 coup.
Mendy said: “The council members went and sat a few metres away from the guardroom. It was dark, they took cover. The other soldiers were in the guardroom, occupying the guardroom with Manlafi Corr. We were with them [council members]. We were there till around one o’clock onward and then we heard a vehicle coming.
“So the vehicle came, it was a Land Rover. The soldier dropped out. I heard Manlafi Corr saying AHOAH and then the one who boarded the vehicle [also] said AHOAH. The I recognised the voice of Lieutenant Basiru Barrow. AHOAH is a military term which means, ‘we’re ready.’
“So when Manlafi Corr said, ‘AHOAH’, then Lt Barrow said, ‘AHOAH, let’s go and f**k those bastards.’ That was the word that Barrow uttered. From there Manlafi Corr and the other soldiers they just captured him. When they caught him, he said, ‘Laa Illaaha Illallah Muhammadou Rasulullah (There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His Messenger).’
“That was the time they stripped him, took the jujus out from himand then the council members came. Yankuba Touray rushed upon him but he couldn’t make it. He fell down. Sana Sabally then ordered Manlafi Corr to take Barrow to the cells.”
