The decades’ long struggle has claimed and continues to claim the lives of many innocent people.
Many properties and useful belongings have perished in the process.
Forty years on, there is no end in sight to this decades’ long uprising. Many children in the Fonis-Casamance borders were born in this and are used to the sounds of gunfire. That alone is threatening the lives of thousands of civilians in Casamance and by extension those settling along the border communities of The Gambia.
Last week, a deadly skirmish between the ECOMIG forces and the MFDC separatist rebels goes to show the severity and the complex nature of the violence. The clash is a reminder that the decades-long uprising is far from over.
Well, several accounts have it that the fight ensued after Senegalese Ecomig contingent allegedly attempted to seize a truck loaded with logs from Casamance leading to the melee as Senegalese forces reportedly chased the driver who fled across the border to seek refuge in Casamance.
During the melee, ECOMIG forces lost two soldiers with seven others taken captive.
The truth must be told. This is a neighbourly fight and The Gambia should stay away.
The Gambia must not allow her territory to be used by Senegal, third party or any other body in the Casamance conflict.
In fact the people of Foni are not happy with the presence of the Senegalese ECOMIG troops in their area. To people of Foni, their presence in the area is doing more harm than good.
The government of The Gambia should know this and not allow it to be used to the detriment of its citizens.
Recently, the MFDC rebel leader in Salifu Sadio in a viral audio threatened to fight back each time the ECOMIG launch an offensive on his men. This is ‘indeed scary' in view of the fact that many Gambia communities lie along the borders between the two countries.
Even last week’s deadly clash alone made lives unbearable for hundreds of families, especially those on the border line.
Many school-going children missed their normal lessons as thousands sought refuge in neighbouring communities.
The order authorising the presence in the Fonis needs to be looked at again.
As alluded to by Salif Sadio, the leader of the MFDC in his viral audio, there is no Gambian with no ancestral links in Casamance.
The Gambia should maintain neutrality in this neighbourly problem.
The Gambia cannot give Senegalese ECOMIG contingent a base to attack these rebels in another country.
If that happens, obviously, the rebels will be left with no option but to retaliate and the aftermath may be deadly.
This will also involve The Gambia in the centre of this uprising.
The government of The Gambia needs to act wisely.
To be forewarned is forearmed.