#Headlines

127 West African citizens languish in Gambian cells

May 30, 2023, 12:17 PM | Article By: Sankulleh Gibril Janko

Currently, there are 127 non-Gambian ECOWAS Citizens languishing in Gambian cells, according to a ECOWAS Status Report.

This was revealed by the status report on ECOWAS Citizens in The Gambia during ECOWAS 48th anniversary celebration on Sunday.

Senegalese inmates account for the highest number (62) of non-Gambian ECOWAS Citizens in various prison cells in the country

This could also be linked to the number of Senegalese residing in The Gambia

The latest report ECOWAS Citizens in The Gambia also shows that there are 78,000 Senegalese in the country.

Per the report, the greater the number of residents, the higher the inmates

There are 75,000 Guineans in The Gambia, second the highest non-Gambian citizens residing in the country

Guineans account for the second highest number of non-Gambian ECOWAS Citizen inmates (37) in The Gambia.

With total population of 12,000 Nigerians residing in The Gambia, there are 12 of them in Gambian prisons.

Meanwhile, there are 7 Bissau Guineans in prison out of the 3000 population residing in the country

Out of 47,000 Malians, 7 are behind bars.

Sierra Leoneans account for only 2 among the 127 non-Gambian ECOWAS Citizens in Gambian prisons.

However, the report indicated that some of these people are in remand while others are awaiting trial.

The report did not specify which prison has how many and which nationalities.

Equally, the report did not indicate the nature of crimes but said some of them are minor.