Police have explained that the two men accused of being German mercenaries are in fact private security officers who work for a private security firm that specializes in protecting cruise ships against pirates.
Reports emerged online on Wednesday of foreign mercenaries entering the country with dangerous weapons.
But police said: “To set the records straight, the two men shown in the picture published in the Facebook post are security personnel of Trident Group America (a private American Maritime Security Company ) specialized in protecting cruise ships along the Gulf of Guinea against attacks by pirates.
“As part of the company’s standard operation procedures and in conformity with international maritime security protocols; the company was obliged to seek entry permit, and clearance for the arms and ammunitions coming into the territorial waters of transit countries.
“Following such clearance sought, transit country’s Police are mandated to retrieve for custody all weapons on arrival and hand over same on departure. This is to ensure such weapons are not used for any unintended purposes.
“It was in observant of the above protocols that personnel of the PIU were directed to escort the weapons to be handed over to the cruise ship as they depart the territorial waters of The Gambia.
“It is important to note that, information in view of the retrieval and custody of the weapons was shared with all relevant stakeholders accordingly.”
