Justice, News

Gambian Spy Recounts How Solo Sandeng Was Killed In State Custody

Solo Sandeng was killed in detention

(JollofNews) – An intelligence officer attached at the Counter Intelligence Unit of the Gambia’s feared National Intelligence Agency (NIA) has narrated how an opposition activist was beaten to death by his former colleagues in April 2016.

Dawda Ndure said Ebrima Solo Sandeng, organising secretary of the United Democratic Party (UDP), was lynched by his former colleagues a few hours after his arrest.

Mr Sandeng died on 15th April 2016 less than 24 hours after he was arrested with a dozen other activists for staging a brief but peaceful protest against the former regime of President Yahya Jammeh at Westfield junction, Serrekunda.

Eye-witnesses said Mr Sandeng and his associates arrived at the busy Westfield junction some 12 kilometres away from the capital, Banjul, during the afternoon rush hour and displayed a banner with the slogan “We Need Proper Electoral Reform”. They also chanted anti-government slogans and demanded Mr Jammeh’s resignation.

However soon after the protest began, they were arrested by a contingent of security officials and detained briefly at the Police Intervention Unit, Kanifing before being transferred to the feared National Intelligence Agency’s headquarters in Banjul.

Sheikh Omar Jeng, NIA’s director of Operation,  said in a sworn affidavit filed on 13th June 2016 in objection to an application made by Mr Sandeng’s lawyer for him to be produced in court whether dead or alive,  that Mr Sandeng died during “the process of his arrest and detention”. He failed to disclosed the cause of the activist’s death.

Solo Sandeng’s death certificate

But giving evidence against his former colleagues including Yankuba Badjie, Louie Richards Gomez, Saihou Omar Jeng, Babucarr Sallah, Yusupha Jammeh, Haruna Susso, Tamba Mansary, Lamin Darboe and Lamin Sanyang who are charged with Mr Sandeng’s murder, Mr Ndure told the High Court in Banjul that the opposition activist was subjected to hours of enhance torture before he died.

He added that after Mr Sandeng and his associates were arrested, he was tasked to obtain their background information before they were led away.

He said after he finished writing the report on the opposition activists, a copy of which was printed and given to Saihou Omar Jeng, he decided to pop out for a walk.

“I was walking in the premises of the office when I saw Solo Sandeng again, this time on a mattress covered with a bed sheet up to his neck with blood and I sat for sometime to look at him but I felt emotional and left,” he recounted.

Mr Ndure said, Mr Sandeng’s body was transported in the middle of the night to the NIA office in the coastal fishing town, Tanji, Kombo South.

“When we arrived at the NIA complex in Tanji, I went to pray at the backyard while some of the boys used a spade we brought from Banjul to dig a grave. After performing my prayers, I followed Mr Jeng and his crew including Haruna Susso, to see what the boys were doing. Later, a pick-up truck carrying the body of Solo Sandeng drove up to the grave and on board were Tamba Mansary, Baboucarr Sallah, and other unknown men. Mr Jeng asked the boys to remove the body from the vehicle. The body was covered with a bloodstain bed sheet with which it was buried. I have witnessed all that transpired in Tanji but I didn’t have a hand in Mr Sandeng’s murder.”

Yankuba Badjie, Louie Richards Gomez, Saihou Omar Jeng, Babucarr Sallah, Yusupha Jammeh, Haruna Susso, Tamba Mansary, Lamin Darboe and Lamin Sanyang have pleaded not guilty to murder.

The case continues.

26 Comments

  1. Very sad very painful but what comes around goes around yesterday is mr sandeng but it’s now you guys changes has come rest in peace solo you are the gambian hero.

  2. Disgusting bunch of murderious evil devil bastards everyone of you who had a hand in this defensles mans murder. The world is watching. And the rest of you will suffer as will your family’s. Jameh your day is coming…

  3. Dr Isatou Sarr

    I opined severally on this forum that once the magnitude of Yahya Jammeh evil acts becomes public knowledge, even the most ardent supporters and sychophants of this EVIL beast will cringe. Brace yourself this is just the beginning of a most painful truth in our history. There are many Solo out there is shallow graves all over our country. We pray for the families of all the victims. We pray for our country.
    God Bless The Gambia

  4. These are the reason why we said we will never rest until Yahya Jammeh and his enablers are arrested and face justice. We are working hard to allocate the monster.

  5. The revelations will show that not only barbarism was at play, but an unimaginable energy of hate was at hand. And the unimaginable about this hate crime, is that this deed emanate from people like Saihou Omar Jeng & Yankuba Badgie, HOUSEHOLD surnames in the Gambia, people we call neighbors and fellow citizens.
    As Dr. Sarr opined above, let’s brace for more inconceivable revelations as the digging continues. Some of the distractors didn’t even want the court to hear this case because they know as soon as the accounts become public knowledge, their accusations of revenge sacking and selective justice will be dismissed.

  6. Gambians did all this. Then at the end of their shift, they went home and played with their kids and went shopping with their wives.

  7. you can say that again Mike, it shows how callous a person can be inside and very pretentious outside.One wonders how they could live with themselves each passing day without their individual consciences (ie if they’ve got any) weighing heavily on them.

  8. Bunkums. How can you make conclusions from a single man’s statement without waiting for the final investigation and court verdicts. You would all have lynched the detainees right from hearing the narration of this Dawda Ndure. Why do you have to believe him? The other detainees have also pleaded not guilty.
    Is it because you have already drawn your conclusions? What type of undemocratic virtues. I only hope the judges and security officers continue their investigations and court hearings until the truth comes to light and refrain from these insane on-line opinions that might interfere with their final court rulings.
    Then and only then could the right decisions be made. Any other course adopted without due process would be ludicrous and undemocratic.
    Is it difficult to follow the due process of the laws within a democratic system?
    We have many more deaths to investigate since the intervention of the brutal banditry and neocolonialist Senegalese forces that killed over 800 innocent Gambians in 1981. No stone will be left unturned!

    • You are in denial but will wake-up soon. The decisive Gambian society know very well who killed SOLO Sandeng. The process going on is to establish the exact conditions under which he was killed. These revelations will definitely bring us that far. The fate of the 9-elements is not the issue here. They are troubled already even as a free men on the street. The energy, hate, illegality and the abject barbarity is under scrutiny here. And we will get there and lay it before the whole country for future reference!

    • Dr Isatou Sarr

      No one can deny that Solo was murdered by NIA operatives. What we are trying to find out is who when and how. Reconciliation and forgiveness requires full and truthful disclosure. The very nature of our instruction to our children to guide them to be good citizens. Denying the obvious is a crime and an insult to the memory of the dead and innocent victims. There are those on the forum that colluded with Yahya to murder Gambians. God forgive them.
      God Bless The Gambia

      • What his statement should have clarified is, who was giving the orders/commands not who was receiving orders/commands/doing their job? Besides this statement sounds like some plea bargaining had been cut.

        • Executing an illegal order/command is itself illegal. Especially in a premeditated killing like this case, the executors of the act are equally liable to equal punishment as the giver of that illegal command.
          As to the reliability of the withness, wait until Saihou omar Jeng open his own mouth.

    • Babu Soli
      what happened to due process after the arrest and brutal murder of Solo Sandeng? what happened to due process when 14 innocent school kids were gunned down in cold blood? How long then had we been living under a ludicrous and undemocratic government as all the events of death and disappearances perpetrated during Jammeh despotic rule fell way below acceptable norms of due process in a democratic country.
      This is the bankruptcy of your ugly and perverted argument,preaching against what you had been supporting all along.If you have the right to charge the Senegalese soldiers of killing over 800 innocent Gambians in 1981 without due process of the law according to you, then why complained about others for doing the same things or less? We all know that Solo sandeng died in state custody and that state did nothing as to investigate the reasons behind his death. You know as well as i do that those men on trial are actors in the events leading to the murder of Sandeng and i hope they are made to pay dearly for their evil crime.

  9. Isatou, Grim reaper, Kinteh(kemo),
    Like any other judicial process, all unwanton and premeditated killings should be questioned, investigated, brought before the laws and ruled. Which democrat should deny that?
    Why close a blind eye to the unwanton and brutal killing of our people orchestrated by the Senegalese forces in 1981 at the command and orders of Ex-President Jawara, Ex-President Abdou Diouf , BB Darbo, Omar Jallow and all those who colluded with the defunct PPP government.
    Why not make mention of that in you numerous human rights calls, voice it out, set up organizations that will ask the Barrow incompetent administration or any other administration that comes hitherto to probe into that 1981 Senegalese invasion and massacre? Isn’t it crime against the Gambian people? Or is it because none of your buddies, families, loved-ones fell victims? So it was justified?
    A little over 70 years into the Holocaust, the Israelis still chase the Nazis. Why then should we forget the genocide on our people perpetrated by individuals who are sneakily making a political comeback to re-corrupt the system? The English proverb: good fences make good neighbours.
    We either make the fences good for all or fall apart all.

    • Babu Soli…1981 deaths was the result of a breakdown of law and order, due to the criminal actions of a few. The deaths were a consequence of that breakdown of law and order.
      You cannot compare those deaths to the wilful and premeditated killings that happened under Jammeh’s watch, even if you don’t want to hold him responsible.
      Moreover, how can you accuse the Senegalese of genocide, when everyone know that the majority of deaths occurred before they even set foot in The Gambia.
      Both rebels and the Police, in their attempt to establish order and stop the massive looting that unfolded, were just shooting to kill. So really, you have no legs to stand on when you attempt to compare the two situations.

    • Babu might have been part of those bandits who cause mayhem on us and because the coming of Senegalsee soldiers then denied him what he thought would have been a blessing for him and that’s why he is still in pain. pls ignore him. We have given him democracy .He should celebrate this new found freedom of speech and press

  10. you again in the name of Babu Soli, when did you emerge from your rat hole/sewers? you talking about “due process”? wonders shall never cease, does Jammeh and his allies like you Babu Soli know anything about this particular mighty phrase “due process”? i tll you what you’ve just made ma day dude.

  11. fatim,
    Well then when your day goes dude it’s simply because you are dude yourself. My rat hole/sewers/sewages are found right under you nose, where you come from to say exactly. You are just ignorant about the democratic process and think democracy starts at point X and ends there. You are just ignorant. What is mighty about the phrase “due process” when cronies like you would never echo the atrocities committed to our people in 1981 by the Senegalese invading forces. Doesn’t that genocide deserve the due process of the laws?
    Never come on line again when I make your day dude, whatever you mean by that. Because I’m steadfast, mark you!

  12. @Babu soli, thanks for pointing out the level of my ignorance that i wasn’t aware of, well as for the “dude thing”, you seem to have an issue with me being a dude and chose a fatim name, is there anything wrong with that? you seem to be a very old timer who is struggling to keep up with the millenials pace and refuse to give up.
    i am very much aware of the democratic process but you are the last person on earth i expected to come on any forum to preach the due process because the nincompoop in the name of jammeh that you supported with all your might did not have a clue or onpurposedly turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to that word “democracy” or the phrase “due process” and perpetually metted hineous crimes against Gambian populace, where were you, the “due process/democracy ” guru when all this was happening? when you sewer rat boss in the name of jammeh was flushed out, you took a long holiday as well wheather it was in the same dungeon as your boss, rat hole/sewers remains a mistery but all of a sudden you emerged and started worrying us again. Could you kindly give us a break, we are right now busy dealing with the heap of mess your boss left behind nnhuh, true mr.

  13. fatim,
    Don’t LIE. President Jammeh left the most venerable legacies that your bitty incompetent administration with a half-educated British Argos watchman can’t overshadow. That’s why I refered to you as ignorant. Ignorant to the realities of what evil was inherited by President Jammeh and what excellent legacies he left . Or perhaps you are not ignorant ,but just EGOCENTRIC, UNTRUTHFUL, MALICIOUS and EVIL-MINDED. Or you are just TOTALLY BLIND.
    The old timers are the chore of administrators in your inept Barrow government. Mind you, they might equally lose the pace of time!

    • Yeah, just pull out of your shell and get the right number of people liable to investigation. You bloody cold blooded murderer.
      Many online are going anonymous for various reasons but yours is outright criminality. The first criminal wanted dead or alive in the 1981 so-called coup of idiots is Kukoi Samba, who started his criminal operation by shooting to death innocent police officers on duty at ‘Bakau old lines’
      Babu Soli.., if you want to be of any use to your village folks, let the mount the cart on you so that that old donkey can have a day off. My oh my….., how can you understand me? Drop more dung you silly idiot. You boss is suffering from diarrhea! Do you know that? Very soon he’ll be extradited. His hustler wife is in highest of spirits. She flying in and flying out, sipping on the best of Spanish wines in the Spanish colony, Equatorial Guinea.

    • Babu Soli
      What a load of bull crap from you again. What happened to you, heartless ignorant, malicious fool? What happened to your intellect for not realizing that you are lying to your rotten old aged pensioner teeth by declaring that Jammeh inherited evil from President Jawara and left excellent legacies for President Barrow. Leaders who left behind excellent legacies for their people are not chased out into exile by those same people.
      Gambians are not interested in the same bullshit analogues of lies, innuendos and false propaganda from you Babu or any of your confused deniers like the idiot Sidi Bojang. You guys live in the past and Gambians wants to live in the present and work hard to better the future.
      Read the piece above from Bax, whose humane intervention made you to toned down your language, then you will realize that you are a minority opinion in this forum. Your school mates Darbo and Hassan Jallow are working hard to shape the history of our nation, while you are farting hard to de – shape our nation’s history by spreading lies and utter falsehood.

  14. could you name just one of his socalled “legacies” please daddy! The” inept Barrow government” is here to stay, the earlier you get use to that, the better for your well being because it is clinically proven that stress can cause a whole range of ailments some potentially fatal.

  15. Very sad and distresssful. I hope all those responsible are made to pay dearly. An example should be made of those found guilty to serve as a deterrence for operatives of any future government.

  16. I think Grim Reaper is onto something here; This evidence is from a collegue of all the accused. Babu is also right when he say’s let us not preempt the verdict of the court.

    Mr Sendeng suffered a horrible death and then was buried 40 Kilometres away at Tanji in seclusion and without due consideration to his family friends and colleagues. This evidence yet to be challenged…. “fingers” the accused.
    Should we suspect the same happened to Chief Manneh and so many others. ???

    Reconciliation is a noble cause but Justice must be done and an investigation into how high up did the “orders” go ? No one is above the law.

    The subject of compensation must be of concern to government when so many may have legitimate and far reaching claims for many years to come..

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