By Nelson Manneh
Amadou Juma Camara, who survived a gunshot by the Senegalese military, said his apprentice Malick Faal, a witness to the incident, is still missing and the family is desperately searching for him.
“It is over a month now since Malick went missing, we don’t know anything about his whereabouts,” the shooting survivor lamented.
He added: “He was with me in the vehicle when I was shot by the Senegalese Military in Cassamance. During the shooting, we left the vehicle and ran into the bush. Since that day to date, we don’t know anything about his whereabouts.”
The alleged incident happened in Southern Senegal (Casamance) while he was transporting logs from Senegal to the Gambia. Amadou said he was with two other people- Malick Faal and Ousman. It is reported that he was shot three times and he later escaped to Kanilai with Ousman. The survivor said they had not seen or heard from Malick Faal until now.
Mr Camara said he suspected that Malick has been detained by the Senegalese military, who raided them.
“Whenever such incidents happen, the victims are always termed as rebels. We want the government of The Gambia to help us establish the whereabouts of Malick Faal,” he added.
Mr Jerreh Sonko, a native of Kanilai, who owned the vehicle that was used to transport the logs from Cassamance, said he is concerned about the whereabouts of Malick Faal.
“Since when I was informed about the incident up to date, I have been continuously searching for the whereabouts of Malick. We dont know whether he is in safe hands or not,” he said.
Mr Sonko said he was informed that if Malick is arrested by the Senegalese Military, they would take him to Bignona, Cassamance.
“I went to Bijnona twice, but I could not see him and I was not able to access the military camp there,” he added.
“We want the Gambian authorities to come to our aid; we are still in the dark. We don’t know whether Malick is alive or not,” he said.
At the time of going to press, this reporter contacted the Public Relations Officer of the Gambia Army Force, but he could not get him on phone.
