BUSINESSMAN ARRESTED, DETAINED AT NIA

By Mustapha Jallow Alhaji Kebba Touray, a businessman who engages in clearing and forwarding, was arrested and detained at the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) since Saturday, 24 January, 2015 after being picked up around 2pm at his residence at Tobacco Road in Banjul. A close family source confirmed to this reporter that men who identified themselves as agents of the NIA came to their residence and asked Mr. Touray to accompany them to a meeting at state house in Banjul. He said Mr. Touray, who has been sick and bed-ridden for six months now, was later whisked away. The source added that he was moved to the NIA headquarters in Banjul where he has spent 6 days (yesterday) in detention without release, bail or access to family members. The family source further said that the reason for his arrest and detention is still not know to them. Mr. Touray’s detention, however, has now exceeded the 72 hours duration required by the Constitution of the Republic of the Gambia. In 2009, Mr. Touray was arrested and later released in the wake of the arrest of Lt. Gen. Lang TombaongTamba, a former Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of the Gambia Armed Forces (GAF), and the others, who were convicted for attempting to stage a coup d’etat against the government.]]>