Africa-Press – Gambia. Ebrima Jallow, a prominent youth activist widely known as “Ghetto Pen,” reportedly sustained a head injury while in police custody on Friday, according to eyewitness accounts.
Nenneh Freda Gomez, a political activist and Councillor at the Kanifing Municipal Council, was present at the police station during the alleged incident. Speaking in a live interview on Facebook with journalist Fatou Touray, Gomez claimed that Jallow was assaulted by multiple officers after questioning the reason for being fingerprinted. She claimed that one officer verbally insulted Jallow before striking him with such force that he fell to the ground, after which multiple other officers joined in the assault. Jallow was then reportedly handcuffed and taken back to his cell, bleeding from the head.
Gomez added that Senior Counsel Lamin S. Camara intervened, urging police either to provide immediate medical attention or release Jallow into the custody of his legal team for hospital treatment. However, police reportedly responded that their driver was unavailable and that they were waiting for his arrival to transport Jallow. When Gomez and others departed the station, Jallow remained in custody without medical assistance. Later that evening, Gomez updated this medium, indicating that sources had informed her of a deterioration in Jallow’s condition.
The incident occurred following the arrest of Jallow and more than 20 others in Banjul before a planned protest organized by the group Gambians Against Looted Assets (GALA). The planned demonstration aimed to demand greater transparency in the handling of assets seized from former President Yahya Jammeh. Authorities had declared the protest unauthorized.
The Gambia Police Force has not issued an official statement regarding the alleged assault or the condition of the detainees. The arrests came in the wake of an investigative report alleging that the government has failed to disclose key details related to the sale of properties once owned by Jammeh, who ruled The Gambia for over 22 years before being ousted in 2017.
Sources indicate that those detained were being held at various police stations across the West Coast Region after reportedly refusing to provide their identities during initial questioning.
As of Friday evening, no formal update had been provided on Jallow’s medical condition, and the detainees had yet to appear in court.
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