carried no identification; they also asked for the passports of these victims; for
what purpose one does not know. There was yet another attempt to interrogate
the victims at the hospital in Banjul which failed because the police officers
refused the request by the hospital authorities for a formal request. This request
by the hospital authorities was reasonable having regard to the fact that the
victims were the target of assassination and having regard to the fact that some
unidentified persons had attempted to see the victims without disclosing their
identity. Why would security go on duty without identification, especially given
the fact that these victims had been the target of assassination just a few days
ago. It is common knowledge that security personnel on mission have to .identify
themselves 'if requested by the appropriate persons, in this case the medical
authorities, if only to
prevent
impersonation. If the
motive was really to
interrogate the eye witnesses why would they refuse to disclose their identity and
'·
....
show some form of identification? Why would they refuse a harmless request by
the hospital authorities for official communication to them? It .seems to us these
events must have scared the eye witnesses to flee the,, country and it was
,., reasonable and a wise precaution to take in the circumstances. With the eye
witnesses out of the way no effective and conclusive investigations could be
conducted into the murder. Notwithstanding the fact that eventually they gave
statement to the Police in Dakar, Senegal, that was the end of the investigations,
for the NIA did not get back to them let alone to investigate the details of their
statements especially the threats the deceased recounted to them.
It is also to be noted that the two surviving victims of the shooting incident had
expressed their fears to the police about the involvement of the N.IA in threats to
their own lives. Ida Jagne told the police that some personnel from the NIA had
followed them even to Senegal in order to eliminate her. So there was no way
they would ever return to The. Gambia, she made it clear to the Police. And yet
this was the same body NIA that was given the task to take over the investigations
from the police. Who could blame the eye witnesses for refusing to return to the
country?
Be that as it may justice would not seem to be done in this case as the
very body which was accused of complicity was the very one charged with the
responsibility to
investigate. The NIA was not an impartial body
8
in the