By Nelson Manneh
Sheikh Tijan Camara told the court that he heard a half-naked woman lying on the floor of the office of the former Director General saying, “you guys are killing me.” He also said he heard this lady say “Solo Sandeng, oh my God, are you dead or alive?”
Sheikh Tijan Camara is working with the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) now SIS continued to give his testimony before the Banjul High Court presided over by Justice Kumba Sillah-Camara.
The nineteenth prosecution witness (PW19) in his testimony said his Head, Yusupha Jammeh told him that they are to go to the NIA headquarters in Banjul. Upon their arrival Yusupha Jammeh went in and spoke to the Director of Operations Sheik Omar Jeng to inform them that they are around.
PW19 said that the Director of Operations then told them that they are to go to the Mile 2 Prisons to bring some people who are detained there and gave a paper to his Head, Yusupha Jammeh.
He said this information was given to them at the main entrance of the NIA headquarters and they left for the Mile 2 Prisons.
He said upon their arrival at the Mile 2 Prisons Yusupha Jammeh gave the paper given to him by the Director of Operations to the officer on duty and the officer on duty read the notes on the paper.
Pw19 said this was the time when he tended to realise that they are on a mission to visit some detainees who are kept in the prison.
He said in the first trip they were given two ladies and they took them to the NIA headquarters. “We dropped them at the NIA reception room and went back to the Mile 2 Prisons for our second trip,” he said.
He said the names of those ladies they brought to the NIA headquarters are Fatoumatta Jawara and Fatoumatta Camara.
PW19 continued saying that when they went back to the Prison they were this time given two men whose names he could not remember.
He said they brought them again and dropped them at the NIA headquarters in the reception room and his Head informed one Security officer in the reception that they have brought the Prisoners who conveyed the massage to one James Mendy. He added that he could not remember whether they went back for the third time.
He said upon completion of their mission his Head reported to Sheik Omar Jeng that they are done but Sheik Omar Jeng told them to wait for a while within the premises of the NIA headquarters. He said they went and sat down around the technical garage while there he took permission from his Head to go to his former office and permission was granted.
“When I went to my office while I was seated I had some one wailing. I decided to come down and went straight towards the direction were the wailing was coming from,” he said.
PW19 added that he then realised that the wailing was coming from the office of the former DG Yankuba Badjie. He said when he reached the place where the wailing was coming from he met a lady sitting on the ground wearing an underwear only without no shirt, she was seriously crying and her body was swollen. He said he also saw a man lying on the ground wearing a boxer (men’s underwear) only without any shirt on.
He said the man was lying down just beside a table and the table was placed between the office of the former DG and his personal garage.
He said he heard the woman sitting on the ground saying in a local language, “You guys are killing me but that will not stop me from supporting UDP Political Party.” He added that the same lady was also saying, “Solo Sandeng, oh my God, are you dead or alive?”
PW19 said he saw Babucarr Sallah holding a fan belt and that the man who was lying on the ground was Solo Sandeng.
He said while the lady was on the ground shouting saying Solo Sanding are you dead. He said he heard one Babucarr Sallah responding to her, saying, “you better shut up your private parts” in Mandinka. He said later he decided to leave and go to where he left his Head, Yankuba Jammeh (at the garage).
He said he then narrated everything to him (his Head) who told him that he should not go around that area again because he did not want them to be a witness to it, so they sat down and waited.
He said the man who was lying on the ground was lying on his side and he was not moving. After a while PW19 said his Head’s (Yusupha Jammeh’s) phone rang and Jammeh told them that Sheik Omar Jeng is calling him and directing them to move with the vehicle to the office of the former DG Yankuba Badjie.
He said when they arrived, they got into the reception and found the man (Solo Sanding) still lying down there and the lady was also sitting down on the ground.
He said Sheik Omar Jeng instructed them to pick up the man and place him in the new reception room. He said they took the man and placed him on a small mattress and the ceiling fan was on. He said the man was not reacting and his body was stiff.
He said Sheik Omar Jeng made a call and asked them to wait for a while as he calling on the other patrol team whom he assigned to pick one Lamin Sanyang to come to the headquarters. He said when Lamin Sanyang came in he walked to where the man was lying and Sheik Omar Jeng was standing there too.
When asked by Lawyer Yassin Senghor weather he know the man who was lying on the ground he responded in the positive adding that he was Solo Sanding.
Sittings continue today at 1pm prompt.
