At least 22 individuals including two Senegalese Ecomig soldiers were arrested for taking part in a birthday celebration organized during the nightly curfew hours. These arrests were confirmed to the media by the Police spokesperson Superintendent Lamin Njie.

“I can confirm to you that on 16 September 2020, our officers on patrol got a tip-off about certain individuals throwing a birthday party at Bijilo thereby violating the regulations. The team arrived at the venue where they found a crowd attending a birthday pool party. Currently, they are being processed for appropriate actions,” he said.

The offenders were subsequently taken to the Banjul police headquarters for further investigation.

Andy La-Anyane, the spokesperson of the West African troops in The Gambia, Confirmed that two of their colleagues were apprehended “I can confirm to you that two of our gendarmerie soldiers at the State House were arrested together with some Gambians for, I believe, breaking the curfew regulations.

“The point is that we are an armed force and we operate on discipline. We don’t take discipline for granted at all. Therefore, Ecomig will take the proper and appropriate disciplinary action if investigations are concluded and we find that they really broke the laws because we have our rules and regulations which govern our operations here and every single soldier is aware (of them) So, once you go outside of those rules and regulations, you would be disciplined,” he posited.

By: Fatoumatta Samateh