By MUHAMMED S. BAH
Tijan Barrow, a young Entrepreneur, alleges that he and three of his friends were arrested, tortured, detained for three days and
his materials were destroyed by security officers from the NIA.
Tijan who was in his mid-30s, made this remark at Foroyaa’s Office on Sunday, 22 January, 2017 accompanied by two of his friends Saihou Keita and Ousman Obu who were also among those who were arrested.
“It was on Wednesday, 18 January, 2017 around 8pm when I was in my T- Shirt Printing Workshop in pipeline with three of my friends Ebrima Jabbi, Saihou Keita and Ousainou Obu, about 3 armed security personnel arrived with heavy guns, and riffles towards my Shop, then I decided to go out of my shop,” he said.
“Then all of a sudden I was scolded by the security on my neck and then he said so you are Tijan Barrow, the brave one to print the Gambia has decided T Shirt,” he disclosed.
He noted that, the security officers further dragged him out of his shop and asked him who are those people and whether he is working with them.
“Then I told them that they are only my friends, the one I am working with is not around,” he remarked.
He said at that moment one of the security personnel with a gun hit him with a gun on his legs, and another one gave him a slap on his left eye.
“A gun was pointed on me by a security personnel telling that I am under arrest, furthermore he added that he will jailed me and kill me as well,” Barrow explains.
He said at that Juncture the security personnel hit him again with a gun, and another hit him with a pistol on the head.
Barrow added that the security personnel started invading his shop, pulling out about 200 Gambia has Decided T-Shirts and 400 T Shirts paraded for printing for the coalition.
He said all of these T -Shirts were put into the vehicle of the security Personnel.
Later he said they started destroying his printing machines which he uses to print his T –Shirts.
“They took about D3700 that was my brothers Money, D10,000 and another money which I didn’t know the amount, which was owned by some people who came to print their T- Shirts,” he remarked.
Barrow said he and his friends were later taken to the NIA headquarters in Banjul that night.
“I was separated with my friends, and we met there lot of detainees including the soldiers that were arrested during the political impasse,” he remarked.
He said they were arrested since on the 18 January until the 21st of January 2017 around 11pm that was when they were released.
