An enthusiastic supporter of President Adama Barrow has given thumbs up to the Gambian police for “killing” a young man in the Gambia’s West Coast Region village of Mandinary on Friday.
There were ugly scenes in the village in the immediate aftermath of Omar Badjie’s death as incensed mobs of youth descended down the streets in violent protest.
Though, the police had denied any culpability in Omar’s death, die-hard Barrow supporter Baye Faal Kanteh has already congratulated the Gambia Police Force (GPF) for what he described as a job well done in “killing” Omar. He then urged the police to now adopt “a measure of killing protesters”.
“Who had the audacity during the Jammeh era to confront the police or uniformed people? Who has ever done that here?,” Kanteh asked rhetorically. He continued: “It’s because of the democracy that you [protesters] are emboldened to confront the police. I think you have just seen the video [of a protest] in America. Anyone, who protests, must be murdered. That’s the right thing. You [police] are empowered to do that.”
Kanteh said in an audio recording, which has made many rounds, that the police “acted within the ambit of their power to kill” Omar Badjie.
“The police should kill him [Omar Badjie]. What they [police] did is right. This is the tactic that the police should now employ. The police deserve it. This is how the police, the world over, look like. Do not disrespect the police,” he stated.
It would seem Mr. Kanteh was out of touch with the realities. The police that he patted on the backs for “killing” Omar Badjie has since instituted a panel to investigate the probable cause of death. And Omar Badjie did not die in a protest but in a police chase, according to the police.
