By Ebrima Sillah
Two of the main masterminds who sold Mahawa Cham and Saul Ndow to dictator Jammeh are now arrested and in police custody.
So far both police insiders and closed relatives of Mahawa Cham have confirmed that Lawu Jarju from Kaing Nema and Swanding Camara from Brikama have been arrested since Tuesday and are helping the police in their investigations.
In fact Lawu Jarju and Mahawa Cham are first cousins from the same village. Both Swanding and Lawu are accomplished mercenaries who fought for Charles Taylor’s rebel movement in Liberia. And both are known for their brutality in the battle front.
Lawu Jarju is said to have already confessed his involvement in the planning and execution of the abduction of Mahawa and Saul Ndow.
What happened next is too graphic to explain here but it’s not looking good. Currently Mahawa Cham’s relatives are preparing to organize a Muslim prayer for him tomorrow Sunday the 5th to pay their last respect to him.
Mahawa Cham and Saul Ndow were abducted in Senegal’s Cassamance province in April of 2013. The duo were setup by Lawu Jarju and Swanding Camara who were agents working for Dictator Jammeh and they lured both Mahawa and Saul to go to Casamance hoping that they could help them get to Gambia to get rid of Yahya.
But unknown to Saul and Mahawa was that the very people they were relying on were in fact paid by Yahya to infiltrate their group. Immediately they arrived in Cassamance, they were kidnapped and taken to Gambia in waiting pickups.
Allegations are that Elements of Senegalese intelligence who were on Yahya’s payroll were also involved in this. Saul Ndow had a bodyguard while in Dakar provided to him by a private security firm headed by a certain Mr Mbye. He was an ex-police officer.
Immediately Saul and Mahawa were kidnapped, that Mbye rushed to the ministry of interior that the duo (Saul and Mahawa) had travelled to Cassamance against his advice and now they could not be reached on their phones. It was meant to absolve himself from any blame.
Gambian police are said to be closing in on a number of leads including the involvement of senior officials of the state guards (the dictator’s body guards) in the abduction and subsequent disappearance of Mahawa and Saul Ndow.
Some names said to have been involved in this dastardly act have already surfaced including that of one Lt Colonel who has just been released from long term detention.
We are following this story with keen interest. We urge the police to bring to book the perpetrators of this heinous crime soonest.
