Since day one when the news broke out that the United Democratic Party (UDP) youth leader, Ebrima Solo Sandeng was tortured to death in police custody in mid-April, there was no doubt about the veracity of the story. Lawyer Ousainou Darboe was the first person to break the news of the death of Solo Sandeng and that was why he took to the streets to demand Solo “Dead or Alive”. However, Earlier this month, Yahya Jammeh spoke to Jeune Afrique an African Magazine based in France and he was quoted to have said “it’s not new for people to die in custody and is only one person who died in custody, and they are asking him to investigate that, I will not,” Jammeh proudly said.
If anyone is in doubt about the death of Solo Sandeng in custody, today it has been officially confirmed by the Gambia government at the High Court in Banjul during the Habeas Corpus hearing filed on behalf of Solo, that he indeed died in custody. Among many questions, however, two would stand out and the Jammeh needs to answer those questions as soon as possible to avoid chaos in the country: How did he die and where is his dead body?
It’s well documented that since Yahya Jammeh came to power in 1994, there was no instance where his government return dead bodies to their families for their right to proper burials or closure for the family. To begin with Lieutenant Barrow and Co, Almamo Manneh, Copral Dumbuya, Ebrima Manneh, Daba Marenah and Co, 9 prisoners executed in 2012 and Njaga Jagne and Co etc, their bodies have never been handed over to their families. However, Solo Sandeng’s case may be the beginning of an end to this because Gambians had enough of that.
Gambians will continue from demand Yahya Jammeh to produce Solo Sandeng’s dead body by any means possible, if not the current political upheavals will continue for as long as it takes. This is one of the reasons why Jammeh went round the country earlier this month in spreading fear, hate and division, however, what he Jammeh fails to understand is that, people have been pushed to the wall and there is no way back. The fear tactics he has used for the past 22 years is eliminated, there is no more fear among the majority of Gambians anymore.
Gambia and her people are beautiful, caring, and compassionate and these characteristics have been exploited by Jammeh for far too long and now he is beginning to see the ugly side of Gamnbians which is shaking the heart of his government. And as it has been said, desperate people resort to desperate measures, Jammeh is desperate and we need to make life much more desperate for him and take over our country. Enough is Enough, Yahya Jammeh!
Gambia Voices 