“The arrest was carried out by airport security officials following information obtained through the flight manifest. Mr. Sanyang was initially detained at the Airport Police Station and subsequently handed over to the Criminal Intelligence and Interpol Bureau for routine background screening,” a dispatch from the Information Ministry states.
Following preliminary procedures, Mr. Sanyang was transferred to the Brusubi Police Station, where he was interviewed in connection with statements he made during an appearance on the “Coffee Time with Peter Gomez” program, aired on West Coast Radio on Thursday, 14 August 2025. The remarks made during the broadcast were considered to have significant national security implications.
“Mr. Sanyang is currently in custody at the Brusubi Criminal Investigation Department (CID) as investigations continue.”
During his interview on Coffee Time with Peter Gomez on West Coast Radio, Sanyang claimed he had bribed operatives loyal to former president Yahya Jammeh to abandon a plan to kill Barrow at a rally in Bakau.
He also described himself as a civilian detective for the U.S. Embassy in Banjul during the political impasse in The Gambia.
Sanyang also claimed that he had played a lead role in an arson attack of the political office of APRC, adding that he personally funded a group of soldiers to execute the arson on the APRC’s bureau.
“The burning of the APRC bureau was my responsibility,” Sanyang affirmed, also claiming he had funded the protest in which Solo Sandeng lost his life.
Sanyang further accused the current Gambian Ambassador to Mauritania of orchestrating election rigging, and claimed that fraudulent voter ID cards were used to manipulate the results. He alleged that up to 300,000 votes were manufactured and stored at the APRC bureau in Kanifing, implicating senior officials within the immigration service and government.
The former soldier also criticised President Barrow’s treatment of the Gambian Diaspora, asserting that overseas Gambians played a pivotal role in financing the opposition coalition that ousted Jammeh. “We made him who he is today, but instead he turned around and insulted us,” he said.
