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Police confirm arrest of Banjul robbery suspects

Feb 11, 2025, 10:40 AM

Police have confirmed that through intensive investigations, they arrested Ousainou Jobarteh, an Ivorian national residing in Busumbala and 24-year old Abdoulie Jallow, a resident of Barra in connection with a robbery in Banjul over the weekend.

Jobarteh was apprehended in the early morning of Sunday, February 9, 2025. Officers recovered D70,250 and 465,000 CFA from him. During interrogation, he admitted to conspiring with Abdoulie Jallow using his BMW with registration number BJL 4871B to execute the operation.

He further disclosed that Amadou Wurry Jallow, a mechanic, was instructed to drive the vehicle out of Banjul for maintenance and repainting to conceal evidence. The vehicle was later identified and intercepted at Bond Road at about 21:00 hrs.

Abdoulie Jallow was arrested along with his girlfriend, Bella James, at Serekunda Villa around 16:30 GMT. During the search, officers recovered D198,000 from Jallow. Additionally, his Wave account contained D24,000, but no CFA currency was recovered from him.

After the operation, the stolen money was divided among the suspects. Ousainou Jobarteh admitted to entrusting D70,250 and 465,000 CFA to his wife, Tida Nyang, while giving her an additional D3,000 for personal use. He further revealed that he handed over D304,000 to Odile Secka, a female resident of Banjul, bringing the total money entrusted to third parties to D377,250 and 465,000 CFA.

In a separate case, authorities in Guinea-Bissau have arrested Ansu Jarju, a Gambian national, in connection with the Access Bank robbery in Brusubi. The suspect has been handed over to The Gambia Police Force through security bilateral, to ensure his prosecution.

It all came when a case of armed robbery was reported at the Banjul Police Station involving an attack on El Hella Shop, located on Hegan Street, Banjul, at approximately 09:08 hrs.

The complainant, Muhammed Seedy Hydra of Brikama, stated that he had traveled to Banjul with D1,245,000.00 and 1,650,000.00 CFA to purchase goods. Upon arrival, he noticed a BMW, ash in color, with no number plate, parked opposite the shop.

Moments after entering, two armed individuals stormed the shop, held him at gunpoint, and forcefully took the cash before fleeing the scene. 

Following the robbery, the suspects abandoned the vehicle in Banjul and used a commercial vehicle to escape to Sting Corner, where they divided the stolen money, investigations revealed.