Haruna Jatta, the man allegedly shot and killed last Friday by ECOMIG forces during a violent incident in Kanilai , home village of former President Jammeh, was on Tuesday laid to rest in the village.
Hundreds of people attended the burial ceremony among them Hon. Fabakary Tombong Jatta, the interim leader of former President Jammeh’s APRC, Seedy Njie, former Information minister among other senior members of the APRC Party.
It could be recalled that last Friday 2nd June 2017, a group of people from villages in the Foni area staged ‘violent’ demonstrations and attacked the security forces deployed in and around Kanilai, and border villages inside Cassamance.
According to a statement by Interior Minister Mai Ahmad Fatty, some members of the group, who were armed with traditional weapons, engaged in provocative acts against members of the security forces in the area and made some demands, one of which was the removal of security personnel from the Kanilai area.
Unfortunately, during the tense standoff between the group of armed demonstrators and members of the security forces deployed in the area, two members of the group and one ECOMIG soldier were wounded resulting in the regrettable death on Saturday, June 3rd, of one of the demonstrators at the hospital in Banjul.
The government took the opportunity to inform the general public that while it will generally not interfere with the exercise of the fundamental human rights of the people including the right to peaceful assembly and association as enshrined in the constitution, no one should use this as a pretext to cause trouble or provoke a situation of crisis in this country.
“The exercise of these rights must be done in a peaceful manner and no group of people has the right to determine the rule of law in the name of democracy. The government of the Gambia will determine the security needs of this country and shall act in the national interest including the deployment of security forces in any part of the country as it deems appropriate at any given moment” the Minister said in a statement.
