By Nelson Manneh
Ismaila Tamba, an erstwhile army Lance-Corporal of the Gambia Armed Forces was on the evening of Sunday, 19th May 2019, shot at his back by members of The Gambia Armed Forces.
The incident occurred at Kanilai, which caused him severe wound.
The PRO of the Gambia Armed Forces (GAF) Major Lamin K. Sanyang said the victim is currently undergoing surgery at the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital. Sanyang told Foroyaa that Tamba is an ex-soldier who had voluntarily resigned five months ago from service.
Sanyang said the incident happened around 19:00 on Sunday adding that it happened at a checkpoint inside the community of Kanilai. He said the soldiers involved are currently helping the Military Police in carrying out their investigation surrounding the incident.
Sanyang told Foroyaa that the army commander at Kanilai has visited the family of the victim on Sunday. Also, he said the Deputy Chief of Defense Staff, Yankuba Drammeh has visited the victim at the Hospital in Banjul. He said the army will continue with their investigation to establish the fact surrounding the incident.
Binta Tamba the sister of the victim told Foroyaa that as at now they don’t have anything to say to the media.
“My father was the one who heard about the incident. He told us; but before we reached the place, we found that they had already left with my brother (Ismaila Tamba) for the hospital where he is currently undergoing treatment,” she said.
Binta said as at now, they are just praying for their family member to recover.
Sometime in 2017, another native of Kanilai was shot by the security forces stationed there, leading to his untimely death. The state of the investigation on this case is not known to the public.
