Police Officer Wounded In Land Dispute between Gunjur, Berrending Villages

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By Hatab Nyang

A Police Officer has been assaulted and seriously wounded by one Jatta Sanyang of Berending in the Kombo South District, during a land dispute that turned violent between some people from Gunjur and Berending on Tuesday May 4th 2020.

According to Abdou Touray, he accompanied one Amadou Bojang of Gunjur to inspect one land located at Gunjur Madina Koto, which is a new settlement near Gunjur’s Madina-Salam area; that as they were going, they were approached by Jatta Sanyang and his men from Berending village who warned them not to come anywhere near the land area that is under their control; that upon their return to Gunjur, they were again approached by Jatta Sanyang for the second time and he assaulted them with a cutlass and threatened to kill him (Abdou Touray) for bringing people to show them the lands that did not belong to them. Touray said he reported this matter to Gunjur Police Station who assigned an officer to escort him and Amadou Bojang to identify the key suspect; that when they arrived, some of the suspects ran away but the main suspect who was approached by the Police Officer, refused to cooperate with them; that he assaulted the Police Officer with a cutlass injuring him; that the suspect ran and escaped but was later identified as Jatta Sanyang; that the Gunjur Police made a second attempt to arrest him in Berending, but he went into hiding and is still at large.

According to Touray, Gunjur Police Station has no utility vehicle to run their errands and they used his own car to search for Jatta Sanyang.

If readers can recall, this particular land dispute has already claimed the life of Buba Jammeh of Gunjur village. The dispute is still rife and escalating and people from both sides warned that it can get out of hand, despite the heavy military deployment in the area; that urgent action is required by the Government in order to prevent another loss of live(s).

This reporter contacted the Police PRO ASP Lamin Njie to shed light on the developments of the story but he was yet to get back to him at the time of going to Press.