The Gambia National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) Financial Director Mr Badou Nyassi was arrested on Monday, 5 September, 2016 by state secret agents of the notorious National Intelligence Agency (NIA). He was escorted in his official vehicle to the headquarters of the NIA.
According to eyewitnesses it all started while Mr. Nyassi was on his way to pickup his kids from their summer classes and his wife who was at work. Upon arrival at his residence in Tallinding, where he has been renting for years with his family, he dropped off the kids and wife. After dropping his family Nyassi headed back to his office to return to work. He was followed by two unmarked vehicles of NIA agents who later escorted him to the NIA headquarters in Banjul. Mr. Nyassi has since been in detention without access to a lawyer or his family. He spend the ‘Tobaski’ without access his wife and relatives. As usual no reasons has been given to his family or the country.
Readers may recalled that several civil servants were rounded up in June in an operation the President’s office depicted as the “most serious economic crime in 22 years” The operation touch many other departments including Education, NAWEC and other public corporations. Many of the detained were granted bail and are being charged for various crimes of corruption and embezzlement. However, what is the central point in this story is the gross failures of the Jammeh administration in almost every economic sector. The ministry of petroleum is directly under the office of the President where Yahya Jammeh himself oversees and controls the operations of the company. He is alleged to own a good share of the company along with his other business partners.
President Jammeh has proven to be the most inefficient head of state Africa has ever seen. Anytime he wants to control the operations of a ministry or department Jammeh will bring that portfolio under his watch. The department of Agriculture on several occasions was brought under Jammeh as the minister. After monopolizing agriculture and enriching his business that minister failed on numerous occasions only for him to turn around and arrest long serving civil servants. Many Agriculture officials are still being persecuted for almost two years.
President Jammeh once again is using Mr. Nyassi and his colleagues at the GNPC as scapegoats for the failures of his economic crimes. Mr. Nyassi has not been charged or brought before any court of law. He has been illegally detained for several weeks now. What will happen to Nyassi is anyone’s guess as detained officials are usually tortured and on occasions beaten to death.