By Sailu Bah
It is now 74 days (today) since the corpses of Bakary Bojang, aka
‘Gosso,’ and others have been kept at the Edward Francis Small
Teaching Hospital (EFSTH) mortuary in Banjul and not yet released to the families for proper burial in keeping with religious practice.‘Gosso’ is a mentally ill young man who was reported to have died in
the 30 December 2014 shooting incident near the state house in Banjul.
His family has been making frantic efforts to secure the release of
his corpse, which is being kept under guard by soldiers at the
mortuary, but to no avail.
Foroyaa has been following the authorities to enquire about the
corpses and why they have still not been handed over to the respective
families but is yet to get a definitive answer.
Efforts to talk to the Public Relation Officer (PRO) of the Gambia
Armed Forces (GAF) have still not materialized, as this reporter is
being told that he is busy with meetings.
Visiting the GAF headquarters in Banjul on Tuesday, 17 March, the
receptionist was informed about the purpose of the visit. He left and
later came back and told this reporter that the PRO is very busy with
other issues.
However, the road leading to the Banjul mortuary between Independence
Drive and Marina Parade is still closed for vehicular traffic and
soldiers are also seen guarding the place.
Meanwhile, a relative of the late ‘Gosso’ has told this reporter that
his grieving mum has now left everything to fate and is hoping that
sooner or later the corpse will be eventually given to them to give
her son a dignified burial.
The families of the late Lt. Col. Lamin Sanneh, former commanding
officer of the state guards, and the late Dawda Bojang, a former
member of the Gambia Armed Forces (GAF), are also appealing for their
corpses to be handed over to them for proper burial.
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