(JollofNews) – President Buhari of Nigeria was due in The Gambia on Wednesday 11th January 2017 to meet with President Jammeh of The Gambia. The main business of the meeting was to persuade Jammeh to vacate the Presidency and allow President-Elect Barrow’s Inauguration on the 19th of January 2017.
President Buhari did not turn up on the 11th because Jammeh was busy trying to use The Gambia’s Supreme Court and The Gambia’s Rubber-Stamp Parliament – to annul Barrow’s election and declare Jammeh the lawful President of The Gambia beyond January 19th 2017.
In the meantime, Nigeria’s Parliament has offered Jammeh asylum – on condition Jammeh leaves peacefully on the 19th. Failing that, Nigerian soldiers will be part of the West African Force preparing to remove Jammeh. It is reported that there is great insecurity in The Gambia because a rogue grouping within the Gambian Army wishes to go down fighting – and may not even obey Jammeh.
In those circumstances we must ask the question whether it is safe for the Nigerian President to visit The Gambia later today – Friday 13th January 2017.
Who will protect President Buhari from the rogue element in The Gambia’s Army?
Will Buhari bring with him a fully armed platoon of his own soldiers to protect him?
Is there already a special force in The Gambia able to protect Nigeria’s President Buhari, President-Elect Barrow, international diplomats – and indeed President Jammeh himself from Jammeh’s own rogue soldiers should Jammeh choose to vacate the Presidency?
It is possible that Nigeria may decide that it is too risky to allow its President to travel to Yahya Jammeh’s Gambia today.
Dida Halake.
Hello Fellow Gambians,
I, Adama Barrow Independent Candidate representing the Coalition of eight parties hereby declare that the planned innaugration schuled for 19th January be postponed until when the ruling can be made on Petition filed by the APRC Party.
The reason is, i want to go into office with a clean sheet. If i had known that the self exiled Gambians in the Diaspora had bribed the corrupt IEC Chairman Alieu Momar Njie before December 1st election i would have withdrawn my candidature. Democracy is not about cheating its all about being clean and to clean the mess other people left. On that note i am declaring the scheduled innaugration be halted until further notice. No urge for ascending to the presidency when the peace and tranquility of our beloved Gambia can be endangered.
Many thanks for your cooperarion.
Yours
ADAMA BARROW
Candidate Independent Coalition.
Nigerians are no cowards. I can assure you that the President doesn’t feel threatened before Jammeh. Lagos state is the smallest state in Nigeria but has a population of over 20 million people compared to Gambia’s 2 million people.
If President Jammeh was a Nigerian leader, he would be regarded not more than a village chief. Nigeria has had it’s fair share of war and violence and we will not tolerate any threat that may throw the region into chaos.
Therefore, Nigeria has raised a troop from the 19th Battalion ECOMOG NIBATT 1, the same troop that liberated the dreaded sambisa forest. A battle tested and trusted army to restore peace to the Gambia.
Come 19th January President Jammeh will have only 2 options, hand over power peacefully in exchange for asylum in Nigeria or grab an assault rifle to defend himself cos I tell you he will be kicked out when the bullets starts flying. I pray it doesn’t get to the later.
Peace and long live the Gambia.
With Love from Nigeria
Gerald,
You might sound pompous but quite realistic. Jammeh is not a soldier in front of Buhari when the man use to dress in military uniform. You can note a great sense of maturity and descipline in the man’s posture.
I bet Jammeh won’t lay a frontline logistics ahead of the Ecowas forces. All his militias’ logistics would be ambushes and cowardly hideouts. The southern borders especially, and all around the Gambia from Senegal, should be very important to Ecowas forces. All what is imminently terrifying now, in the Gambia, is not the fault of the innocent people of the Gambia. It is about a monster with access to a dangerous button that shouldn’t be pressed. Ecomog NiBatt will deserve the Gambian’s appreciation if they live up to professional expectation towards the cultured, religious, reserved and peace loving Gambians in a likely military intervention. I pray too, it won’t get to that.
Gambia is tiny by population and boundaries though, it is a great country with real great people like many republics in Africa.
Long live Au and long live Ecowas and citizens repectively. I hope the regional group will prevail to be the role models for other regions of the continent Africa.