Gambia: Police arrest former president’s spy chief

By Mustapha K. Darboe

BANJUL, Gambia

Gambian police have arrested the former head of the National Intelligence Agency, an institution accused of enforced disappearances and killings under former President Yahya Jammeh.

“We have arrested Yankuba Barjie, former director of NIA, and Sheikh Omar Jagne, director of operations. Investigations are ongoing,” Gambia police spokesperson Foday Conta confirmed to Anadolu Agency Tuesday.

Conta said investigations are ongoing and that the duo have yet to be charged though the arrests were made on Monday evening.

Jammeh, who ruled Gambia with an iron fist for decades, lost his reelection bid to former property developer Adama Barrow in last December’s presidential elections.

This is the first high-profile arrest of former members of the previous regime since their surprise election triumph.

Two weeks ago Gambia police chief Yankuba Sonko told Anadolu Agency that the small nation’s Interior Minister Mai Fatty has issued a directive to probe the cases of missing people in the country.