By: Momodou Justice Darboe
The whereabouts of Sibanor native Basiru Colley could not still be established by his family and loved ones following his reported arrest by the Senegalese military.
A dependable source informed this medium that the Senegalese military recently arrested Colley at the border of southern Senegal and The Gambia.
His reported arrest and disappearance followed a report of a similar incident in which two Gambians were allegedly arrested by the Senegalese soldiers almost two months ago and subsequently transported to Zinguinchorr, where they are reportedly held.
There continue to be isolated cases of friction between the people of Foni and Senegalese security since their deployment to the region almost seven years ago.
Some Foni natives have accused the Senegalese forces stationed in Foni of harassment and employment of heavy-handed tactics against them. Some residents of Foni Kansala district sometime this year accused the Senegalese security of using tactics of intimidation to force them out of their rice fields though this accusation was strenuously denied by the Gambia’s defense ministry.
The National Assembly Member (NAM) for FoniBintang, Bakary K. Badjie, said he was baffled by the happenings in Foni as regards the Senegalese troops, describing the situation as unbearable.
“The situation is unbearable. I am baffled by the current happenings in The Gambia,” NAM Badjiebemoaned in an interview with The Voice.
He asserted that the Gambian security will never have the audacity to do things to the Senegalese nationals that their Senegalese counterparts were doing to Gambians, adding that the Senegalese forces can do such things only in The Gambia.
The Bintang lawmaker told this reporter that they could not establish Colley’s whereabouts as he wondered whether anyone cared about the lives, limbs, and freedom of the people of Foni.
He explained that the Governor of the West Coast Region, Ousman Bojang, has exhibited a degree of concern, regarding Colley’s reported arrest and disappearance. NAM Badjie said the governor has made an undertaking to visit Colley’s family on Sunday.
An official of the Senegalo-Gambia Association told this medium that the association will dispatch a team to Foni to establish the veracity of the report.
