By: Nyima Sillah
Two Gambian nationals were arrested on their farms by the Senegalese military on Saturday, the lawmaker for Foni Bintang Karanai Bakary K. Badgie said.
“The conflict has truly affected our people. As I speak, two people are in Ziguinchor police. One of them is from Siwol and the other one is from Gilangfare. They have farms that are on the borderline but were arrested by the Senegalese soldiers on Saturday 23rd September at around 9:00 a.m.,” the Foni Bintang NAM explained to The Voice in an interview over the weekend.
“The two people arrested are Keluntang Sanyangknown as Kangon and Musa Sanyang,” he added.
The Foni Bintang NAM asserted that the arrest has instilled fear among the people in the area, adding even those who cultivated cannot gain access to their fields, leaving them exposed to animals.
Kemo Sanyang, the son of one of the arrested people, said his father was arrested alongside his stepfather because their farm is not far from the weed farm and the soldiers wanted to get the names of all the people farming in that particular place forreason best known to them.
“My father has been farming there for over 25 years and he has his supporting documents. When they arrested him, they told him to give them the names of the people that farm there but he told them that he has no business with the people in that area,” Kemoexplained in an emotional tone.
He further stated that his father (Kelungtang) is a well-recognized farmer, and is currently receiving medical care.
“He is supposed to undergo surgery. His condition makes the entire family worried because he is the breadwinner of the family,” Kemo lamented.
According to him, the police are not giving thefamily any convincing reason for the arrests of his father and stepfather, arguing that the police reiterated that their farm is not far from where Cannabis farm is located and that they only wanted to identify those on the weed farm.
“We applied for bail but they said they are not done questioning so they cannot grant them bail. We are appealing to the government to intervene because their detention is over 72 hours now and my father is not feeling well,” he stressed.