By Lamin Njie
A police officer at Kairaba Police Station has been thrown into a new cycle of poverty after he was allegedly forcibly evicted from his police-provided house.
Cherno Sanyang and at least nine other police officers are trapped in a livelihood nightmare following an alleged decision by commissioner of police for Kanifing Division, Kalilu Njie, that they should vacate their houses. Kairaba Police Station is home to about ten living quarters but the occupants who are police officers are being evicted and the houses turned into offices.
On Wednesday, Sanyang was the first to be hit by the new move when his house got invaded and his possessions thrown out. The officer who operates a taxi business could not also find his D75,000 cash.
A source said: “The decision came from Commissioner Kalilu Njie. Some of these people have been living in these quarters for more ten years.
“The officer who has been removed from his house has nowhere to go to. He ended up putting his possessions inside a container at the station, and he lodged a complaint at the station that his money was missing.
“He (Commissioner Njie) has asked another officer to leave. The houses are being turned into offices and the residents are complaining of the noise coming from these offices.”
The Fatu Network visited Kairaba Police Police on Friday but Commissioner Kalilu Njie declined to comment on the issue. He asked that The Fatu Network contact the spokesman of Gambia Police Force. The spokesman of the force Lamin Njie was contacted but he could not immediately comment on the issue – but he promised to ‘find out’.
