Africa-Press – Gambia. Yahya Ceesay, a survivor of April 10/11, 2000 student protest recounts how their planned peaceful strike turned out bloody due to the way ex-President Jammeh’s government handled the matter.
He accused former President Yahya Jammeh and his government of turning a peaceful demonstration into a violent conflict that led to the loss of lives and property.
In an exclusive interview with The Voice Newspaper, Ceesay, a former student at Muslim Senior Secondary School, recalled that students had planned a peaceful protest to express their grievances over the “unlawful” treatment of their colleagues. The students were protesting after one colleague was allegedly raped and another was forced to eat cement by security men.
He explained that before the protest, students wrote to Jammeh’s administration, requesting justice for their colleagues. However, when the government refused their request, the students took to the streets on April 10 and 11, 2000 to voice out their frustrations.
“When students demanded justice, the government did not want to bring the suspects before a competent court of law,” he said. “Students wrote to the government, demanding a dialogue, but it never happened.”
He continued by stating that students had to organize initially peaceful assembly at The Gambia Technical Training Institute (GTTI), but paramilitary officers arrived and “forced” them to disperse. Ceesay recalled the way security forces handled the matter which led to loss of lives. He said soldiers used live bullets on unarmed students resulting into a dozen of them being killed.
According to Ceesay, the lesson one can learn from the bloody April 2000 protest is that authorities should allow citizens to stage peaceful strike whenever the need arises.
He urged President Barrow’s administration to allow citizens to express themselves through peaceful protests, stating that it is a way for them to display their grievances through posters and petitions.
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