Family members of the slain soldiers of November 11th, 1994 told The Chronicle that they have no forgiveness for Sana Sabally and Edward Singhateh, arguing that the duo have failed to admit their responsibility or show any remorse during their various testimonies at the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC).
Sunkary Yarboe, Mbaya Demba and Awa Njie, wives to late Basirou Barrow, Gibril Seye and Abdoulie Dot Faal respectively, spoke to The Chronicle on Monday 11th November, 2019 on the sidelines of the commemoration marking the killings of their late husbands.
On 11th November 1994, over a dozen members of the Gambia Armed Forces (GAF) headed by Lt. Basirou Barrow were accused by the military junta of Yahya Jammeh of launching a counter-coup barely five months after the illegal overthrow of the government of Alh. Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara.
Lt. Basirou Barrow, Lt. Gibril Seye, Lt. Abdoulie Dot Faal, Sgt Fafa Nyang, Lt. Basirou Camara, Sgt. Bakary Manneh among other members of the army, were summarily executed at Yundum Barracks and Fajara Barracks for their involvement in the alleged Nov. 11th countercoup.
“Today is a very sorrowful day for us, it is the day that Yahya Jammeh and his men callously killed our husbands. Basirou and company have not committed any crime or found guilty of any crime labeled against them by any court of law but yet they were brutally killed”, Sunkary Yarboe, first wife to late Basirou Barrow explained.
“I strongly believe Basirou was killed because Yahya Jammeh and his Junta leaders fully know that Baisirou cannot be easily be lured into their games of planning to overstay in power beyond six months. The killing of Basirou and colleagues led to the birth of tyranny and dictatorship in the country,” said Sunkary Yarboe.
She added: “My husband and colleagues were accused by Sana Sabally of writing the names of people who are to be executed by them when they succeed in their alleged abortive coup. I want to challenge Sana Sabally to produce the paper that he said contains the names of people my husband and colleagues were to execute”.
Awa Njie, wife to the late Abdoulie Dot Faal said their loved ones were only killed based on a mere suspicion and no evidence to support their claim, disclosing that 11th November is a day that their family will never forget for being a day that state sponsored terror was unleashed on Dot Faal and his colleagues in the army.
“I want to thank the TRRC for exposing the records and bringing to the fore the ways and manners in which our husbands were killed. What we (the victims’ families) are seeking is only justice to be seen to be done and also to see that perpetrators pay their price for killing our loved ones,” said Awa Njie.
Awa said she will never forgive Sana Sabally and Edward Singhateh for the fact that the duo failed to admit to killing her husband.
“We are very disappointed with Sana Sabally and Edward Singhateh for misleading the Truth Commission. We will never forgive these people until they show remorse and accept their wrongdoings,” said Awa
Mbaya Demba, wife of late Lt. Gibril Seye called on The Gambian Government to take action and bring the perpetrators of this heinous crime to book, saying justice delayed is justice denied.
“It was very sad for us (victims’ families) to see Sana Sabally and Edward Singhateh reconciling before the cameras in front of the whole country. We thought that before they reconcile with each other they should first accept their responsibilities of ending innocent lives and also show remorse” Mbaya Demba disclosed.
She added: “I want to make myself clear that I have no forgiveness for Yahya Jammeh, Sana Sabally and Edward Singhateh for deliberately killing my husband and colleagues in the army without any prove to their allegations”.
