The
West African force deployed in The Gambia to secure the nation’s presidential
transition said Monday it had recovered weapons from the former leader’s home,
and arrested a high-ranking Gambian general.
Senegalese
General Francois Ndiaye, who leads military forces sent by the Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS), said the arms and ammunition were
found at ex-president Yahya Jammeh’s private residence in his home village of
Kanilai.
Jammeh
left the country after refusing for weeks to recognise his electoral defeat to
Adama Barrow, who returned to The Gambia as president from Senegal this week.
“All
the weapons and ammunitions are now under ECOWAS custody. So nothing will
happen there,” Ndiaye said. “The situation is under control.”
He
added that since the Kanilai residence is private, “there shouldn’t be any
military there. In the coming days, there will be no more military there.”
He
also said that General Bora Colley, the head of a Gambian military commando
unit, had been arrested in Senegal, without giving further details.
Four
guards of Jammeh’s wife, Zainab, were also arrested, in the border town of
Karang in Senegal, and were being held in Dakar.
Ndiaye
said that Gambian officers and soldiers needed to be “screened”, including
“background checks, so that we know all of them”, he said.
He
added, however, that the Gambian armed forces have been “very cooperative, and
we are now controlling the ammunitions and the weapons. So there is no need for
us to stay longer. That’s why we are downsizing gradually.”
Source: AFP
