Corporate Account Manager at Gamtel, Awa Sanneh, has on Tuesday told the Truth Commission (TRRC) that she was devastated when her husband died during the April 10/11 students’ demonstration.
Born in DippaKunda in 1979, Ms Sanneh said Omar Barrow’s death was a great loss to his family because he was the one taking care of the family, adding they did not receive any help from the Government.
She said she used to have nightmares, adding that she used to wake up and opened the door of her house and sat outside in the dark.
She remarked, “I didn’t know what to do. It was a great loss to me,” she told the TRRC.
Sanneh added that she endured lot of pain as a result of her spouse’s death. Her husband was 25 years when he was shot to dead.
Asked how she felt upon hearing that her husband was shot during the process of helping people, Sanneh responded that she felt sad.
“Because as a humanitarian worker, who was rendering service to other victims and casualties, wearing the Red Cross emblem inside the Red Cross premises and was killed, I could not imagine that could ever happen,” she said.
The ex-student of Muslim Senior Secondary School said the third day after Omar’s death (on 12 April 2000), she went to the mortuary to see the corpse before it was buried that day. She said when she entered the mortuary, she saw Omar’s face facing the wall of the mortuary.
“When they turned him to face me, I saw blood oozing outside from his mouth and the shirt he was wearing was stained with blood,” she said
She said she could not imagine seeing her husband in that state. “He was at the last floor. I had to bend, I couldn’t even stand up again,” she said while tears rolled from her eyes.
Sanneh said the demise of her husband had a negative impact on her because she was young and was not working at the time, saying when she thought about the challenges she shrugged on her shoulders having to take care of her 5-month-old baby, she noticed that it was too much. She said the baby her husband left behind is 19 years now and is studying at the University of The Gambia. She is called Fatou Barrow.
Sanneh got married to late Omar Barrow after completing senior secondary school in October 1998. Her husband was a journalist working for Sud Fm in Banjul and was also doubling as a Red Cross volunteer.
“It was on 10th April on Monday morning, he told me that he was going to Red Cross because students were going to have peaceful demonstration and he was part of the emergency respond team of the Gambia Red Cross Society. And he was going there to render first aid service,” she explained.
Sanneh said she saw her husband off to work, returned home later and continued her domestic chores and then prepared to go to the market when she met with a lady living right opposite their compound.
She said the lady informed her that no one was selling at the market; adding everybody went home due to the students’ demonstration that was taking place.
“At that point, I didn’t know how serious the demonstration was. I just {saw} people passing by” she said.
She went back to the compound and relayed the information to her mother-in-law. At that time, she said they were residing at Latrikunda German.
Thereafter, she said people started to come to their compound and they would go back when they learned that they did not know anything about the death of Omar Barrow.
Sanneh said they were oblivious of her husband’s death until 2pm when an aunty to her husband came and informed her mother-in-law about her son’s death. She said when her mother-in-law informed her about her husband’s death; she said it was not possible.
At that moment, she denied the information because she could not believe it.
“A while later, two people from the Gambia Red Cross (they were his colleagues) came,” adding immediately they entered the compound, she held one of them by the collar of his attire and asked him, “tell me what’s happening with my husband? Is Omar dead? He told me no, Omar is not dead, just calm down. Is true that they shot him, but right now he is in the theatre. They are operating on him. At around six o’clock, I would call you, you will talk to him.”
She said she relayed the information to her mother-in-law which calmed the situation. Sanneh said people continued to come to their compound to confirm whether Omar was dead as rumored, while others were crying as they entered the compound.
She added some even said it was true that Omar died because they saw him in the mortuary.
“So, we were there until around six o’clock when I heard horns of vehicles, because I was emotionally imbalance, I ran out to the main road,” she said.
She said she saw fleet of Red Cross cars from the junction up to their gate. She said she saw Omar’s colleague and one of her relatives, so she confronted him and asked him about her husband’s situation.
“The moment he started to tell me ‘take heart that God is in control,’ then I make a very loud scream and I passed out. I didn’t know what was happening again,” she said.
Ms. Sanneh said she felt so devastated, confused and everything was mixed up in her mind. At a young age, she imagined living a life without her husband; she said “that was too much for me.”
She said they were later told that Omar was shot inside the Red Cross headquarters.
At this juncture, Counsel Mariama Singhateh read an article published by the Observer newspaper and asked for its consideration as exhibit 0079 which was granted by TRRC Chairman Lamin Sise.
The article corroborated Sanneh’s testimony that her husband was shot while he was within the premises of the Red Cross headquarters.
