“There was never a coup plot in Nov 1994. This was a faked coup plot to eliminate people the AFPRC feared…out of paranoia and cowardice…”
It was a simple Knockout!
Telling the real Truth as it Happened: Well that is the only one way to prove the silly rumours wrong.
(Open the door and enter…)
Today I can say I regretted having taken part in the Lt. Basiru Barrow´s Nov 1994 coup plots that never was properly planned nor maturely executed to bring success. The AFPRC Vice Chairman Captain SB Sabally and team or entourage had visited the Yundum Barracks on Thursday 10 November 1994… We acted hastily. We were defeated by the AFPRC. It was a simple Knockout!
Many versions, stories, and claims have been advanced regarding what they call “Nov 11.” Some refused to categorize it as a coup. So they deliberately refuse to add the word “coup” after their date; “Nov 11.” I betrayed myself for joining the coup. I feel ashamed each time I reflect on it. I feel more ashamed today from my silence over what I know, what I did and what I saw. It is an inner lie. It´s killing! I write and speak out in the defence of truth. There are many still-unending false claims, stating that “There was never a coup plot in Nov 1994. This was a faked coup plot to eliminate people the AFPRC feared…out of paranoid and cowardice…” quoting Lt. Binneh Minteh. But if one may ask; what paranoid was there with someone who met you squarely in battle and defeated you not only once but twice or thrice? Can or should one still call this person “paranoid and a coward”? How can the defeated call the victor paranoid and a coward? The AFPRC attacked Fajara Barracks on 22 July 1994 and captured it. Again, on 10 Nov 1994 in a counter coup, the AFPRC attacked the same camp; captured and subdued it. The commander of the troops was Captain SB Sabally. In all these two attacks, Lt. Binneh Minteh was in Fajara Barracks. Was he then not defeated and routed or subdued twice by Captain SB Sabally? Perhaps Yaya Jammeh is a coward but what all of us know; SB Sabally is not a coward facing Lt. Binneh Minteh. The one who ran away is the biggest coward. How about a wife who was impregnated by her husband and had two kids started saying her husband was impotent! But how about the two kids already? And Lt. Binneh Minteh ran away from Captain SB Sabally. Because he escaped that is why he is talking big 1000 miles away. But all he is talking is lying and fabrications to cover his shame and disgrace. Lt. Binneh Minteh even accused, saying “Captain SB Sabally was searching for me with a truck full of GNA soldiers in the swamps at Old Jeswang…” Quoting Lt. Binneh Minteh. I just want to draw similarities here: a related Story; Boston-USA Marathon Bombing – because Lt. Binneh Minteh lives in the USA.
As it happened: Manhunt for Boston suspect: The police tweeted earlier: “There is an active incident ongoing in Watertown. Residents in that area are advised to remain in their homes”. The Police have “Sealed-off” “Lock-Down” Watertown; no heads out! 675,000 residents of Watertown and 7million of Boston population affected. A large numbers of CIAs, FBIs and heavily armed Police Forces with armored cars, sniffer-dogs and over-head hovering search-helicopters descended on Watertown: hunting only for one boy, a teenage suspect; 19 year old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev! Recently, in Watertown-Boston (USA) the Police have said they are going door-to-door in Watertown due to what they describe as a “fluid situation”, warning residents not to open their doors to anyone other than a clearly identified police officer.
How could Lt. Binneh Minteh a so-called Professor explain the reason/sense behind such a heavy Police Force used in Watertown against only one small boy? His brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26 also a suspect, was killed in a shootout with police near Watertown. My question “who killed this boy?” is particularly to/for Lt. Binneh Liar Minteh to explain. Was it the boy himself or the Police or President Barack Obama? Who is to blame? Reflection and comparison needed with our Nov 1994 coup. That is my point. The extra fabricated lies; telling it wrongly, lying isn’t what Gambians need at the moment. Gambians need the truth. How many of us, especially the civilians talking, gossiping and lying were actually near or in the Military Barracks on this particular day on Thursday 10 November 1994? The answer is nobody. All that you are talking about is mere fabricated hearsays.
A Coup is Coup:
Momentary distraction: A little on Kukuoe Samba Sanyang: What is the difference between July 1981 (Kukoie Samba Sanyang) and July 1994 (Yaya Jammeh and Sana-Bairo Sabally) and Nov 1994 (Lt. Basiru Barrow)? Between PPP and AFPRC? Don´t jump to conclusions let me ask or bring everything on the table! The three are all Coups! But two (July 1981 and Nov 1994) were failed/foiled coups. Only July 1994 was a successful coup. Again, in the two; July 1981 and Nov 1994, some people died, some wounded, and some escaped into exile. Who killed the dead? Who wounded the wounded? On July 1994 it was not only a successful coup but it was BLOODLESS. “Not even a mosquito was wounded.” Quoting Chairman AFPRC Captain Yaya Jammeh. The only people who went into exile were from the deposed government. That is very Normal! The PPP families should stop crying foul.
Again, Critics, I ask who killed the dead and wounded the wounded in (1981 and 1994) failed coups? Critics say “in 1981 Kukoie Samba Sanyang killed…” and “in 1994 Yaya Jammeh and or but Sana-Bairo Sabally killed…” What is then the difference? Why was Jawara not responsible for the dead but Kukuoe in 1981, like Yaya Jammeh / Sana-Bairo Sabally are said to be responsible for the dead in 1994 and not Lt. Basiru Barrow? Kukoie and Barrow were all both coup leaders whose coup plots resulted in dead and wounded. How can one be held responsible and the other not? Jawara and Yaya were all both Heads of State and Cs-I-C, Commanders-In-Chief (who foiled coups), how can one be responsible for the dead and wounded and the other not? Critics, what is your yard stick used here to determine who is and who is not responsible for the dead and wounded in 1981 and 1994 foiled coups?
Lest you forget; a reminder about Lt. Binneh Minteh and team´s coup plot attack on Kartong Military Post killing a whole Detail of soldiers on guard! Who was responsible for this cold blood massacre of a whole Detail of Guards? Will you still tell me “Yaya Jammeh” or I should tell you; “Lt. Binneh Minteh and team”?
Manhunt for the Nov 1994 coup attackers.
Although stupid and laughable; quoting Lt. Binneh Minteh as he still reports or rather lies that “I was being hunted by Vice Chairman AFPRC Captain SB Sabally with a truck-load of GNA soldiers…”, but his details remain sketchy and incomplete. How about in Boston-USA? How about Osama-Bin Laden? But what was wrong with searching for him Lt. Binneh Minteh, if at all he was personally being searched for? I believe as I know many of my coup-accomplices; soldiers and officers were at large, armed and dangerous. I abandoned my own weapon and fighting gears behind and under the tree where I was lying down when we ambushed Captain SB Sabally and Captain Peter Singhateh. I was with 2Lt. Lamin F. Jammeh (executed in Mile II prisons). Many weapons and uniforms were abandoned and later recovered especially in the swamps at Ebo-Town, Old Jeswang, Mandinaring and Lamin and in the immediate surroundings of Bakau. The Serer fishermen and vegetable-garden women always came with reports of their sightings… The Army was sent to recover them. I believe this was in order so that these abandoned weapons and uniforms don´t land in the hands of the wrong people; bandits criminals who would use them to terrorize and cause mayhem to the population. Lt. Binneh Minteh was only at large, but not armed and not dangerous because he has since cowardly abandoned his weapon and uniform from the word go. This is the Brave and Seasoned, and Fully Baked (Bread) Officer! So why did he flee? Simple, he has his heart inside his boots; total cowardice. It´s laughable! Why would Captain SB Sabally in person look for such a deadly coward who has already left a storm of dust behind his heels? That is the task of soldiers, junior fighting soldiers everywhere? But this is just a story for his Asylum-Case. Didn´t the residents of Bakau witnessed deafening explosions and gunfire that woke them up from their peaceful night? Do we still say this was not a coup? Soldiers fighting with live-round ammunition and heavy weapons! Lt. Binneh Minteh still says “There was no coup…” I can tell you; this was no military exercise either! The incidents in Yundum and Fajara Barracks respectively did involve what we earlier prepared; hand-grenades, and explosive devices heavily and physically being used against the AFPRC officers especially in Fajara Barracks. Pte. Babai Manneh could bear me witness here because reports have it that he was fighting the AFPRC at the Fuel Dump in the camp.
What would Lt. Binneh Minteh have done if our NLC- National Liberation Council was able to uproot depose the AFPRC and the soldiers and officers of AFPRC were reported at large, armed and dangerous? Would he sit in his office and drink alcohol and caress the ladies to jubilate a victory or would he pursue them anywhere and arrest them? Critics, I leave that to your big minds. I know any sensible person would do the later; pursue them and arrest them.
I find these nasty articles and comments from critics about the AFPRC very distracting and hurtful; because they are nothing but deliberately intended character assassination. It’s all lies and hypocrisy. It´s their only form of self-advertisement: buying cheap popularity but only in the Internet. Critics, we already know the truth.
Courageous Action: Captain SB Sabally´s bravery allowed the AFPRC to foil our plans and moves, prompting a shootout, a fire-fight that led to the death of some coupists and manhunt and the capture of many others, possibly also averting a follow-up attack on the AFPRC authorities.
As part of our contingency plans; in the event we entered Banjul and we were stopped, we had concocted a spur-of-the-moment plan to draw the fight to Shell Company, the Fuel storage facility in Banjul and detonate our remaining explosives: hand grenades and later blame it all on the AFPRC.
After the foiling of our coup; the AFPRC announced that everybody should go to work; offices were open and there was no heightened law enforcement presence in the streets or on the roads. Live was quickly normalized. Jubilant crowds of civilians and soldiers in and around the State House cheered the returning Vice Chairman Captain SB Sabally and soldiers when the news was announced. They received a hero´s welcome. Everywhere, like on every normal day, the women went to the markets to buy and cook, the taxis plighted the roads, and the Muslims even went to the 2 O’clock Friday prayers. There were no random checks of vehicles and passengers. Of course everyone was on a state of heightened vigilance. It was an immediate concern and normal action for Public Safety.
Gambians will have to balance the firmness, resolution and truth the country expects with their clear desire not to be pushed into accepting deliberately repeated multi-coloured falsehoods and snap solutions ahead of clear answers. I´d suggest critics seeking to reach out to the sky to trying to paint everything “black” to defame AFPRC could start with throwing away their painting brushes of lies and accept the hard truth. I am not eulogizing or heaping praises on AFPRC or Captain SB Sabally but simply telling the truth as it happened. Because I was not only present on the ground but I was a coupist myself. You’ve got to really dislike SB Sabally to still refuse the truth. Some folk’s critics still don’t think there was a real coup in Nov 1994. Lt. Binneh Minteh has brain-washed your minds. Really? Why don’t you get the truth? I believe our coup plot was a terrorist act who has prepared themselves to massacre a whole group of soldiers, officers and their immediate families. That was our plan; to arrest and execute all the AFPRC members… If we were successful, the AFPRC would have been doomed to Hell.
I know Diaspora Gambian Online Newspapers have taken a definitive uncompromising side to knock Yaya Jammeh out and anybody associated with him before and now. But the fact is, I´d admire that you make your serious commitments to covering all sides of the story, just in case one of them happens to be accurate. I know with you are many negative pictures, e.g.; “Yaya Jammeh knows, thinks or does no good only evil…”
Our Nov 1994 Coup was true, real and executed into action! Sgt. Alagie Joof (alias Sir Jackal even though he goes around with a false name different from his real and true name given him by his parents: Sait Cham) spoke but the truth. Pte. Babai Manneh spoke but the truth. I also now speak but the truth. And Critics gossiped with malicious mischief and accused but theirs is falsehood. We don’t yet have all the answers, I´d say, as many still talk and ask “We still do not know who did this or why?” Yet still people who have no idea of the day still keep maliciously gossiping and trying to tarnish the good images of some able and sincere Gambians. This is a tragedy!
By: Lamin Coba
(Cpl.) ADC to Lt. Basiru Barrow´s NLC Thursday 10 Nov 1994 Coup.
Today 2013, Officer GNA.