By Mustapha Jallow
Sheikh Omar Colley, the Imam of a mosque in Jabang Borehole, continues to be held incommunicado at Janjanbureh prison in 
the Central River Region (CRR) for 316 days without access to his family, a brother revealed to Foroyaa.
When this reporter visited the home of the detained Imam yesterday 23 August, 2016 for an update on his detention, he was told by his family that he (Colley) is not yet released and is still held in this remote prison camp in CRR.
Asked whether the prison authorities have allowed any family member to see him, the source responded in the negative, adding that they are dumbfounded and are wondering what Colley must have done to warrant his long detention without access to his loved ones.
“We are therefore renewing our longstanding call for the authorities to facilitate the immediate release of our brother to enable him to reunite with his family and religious congregation as an Imam,” appealed one of his brothers.
It was earlier reported that Imam Colley was moved from Yundum Police station to the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) headquarters in Banjul after he presented himself there following instructions from a distant caller in Bansang.
One of his brothers had disclosed that it was while the Imam was at home on the day of his arrest that he received a phone call from someone who said he was calling from Bansang Police station. He said the caller asked him to report to the Old Yundum Police Station, adding that the said caller told the Imam to call him with his own mobile phone when he reaches the station so that he (the caller) could talk to the Station Officer (SO). He said this was around the time when the Imam was about to go to the mosque to perform his ‘Maghreb’ (twilight) prayers. He also explained that they accompanied the Imam to the station and while they were there, their brother called the said caller from Bansang for him to talk to the SO they found on duty. This SO later asked the Imam to hand over all his personal belongings e. g. mobile phone and enter into the cell.
