By Adama Makasuba, edited by Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT
The remains of seven soldiers killed on 11th November, 1994 have been unearthed at Yundum Army Barracks by the Investigation team of the Truth Reconciliation and Reparation Commission on Wednesday, 17th April 2019.
This revelation was preceded by almost two weeks of excavation by the TRRC’s Investigative team. The remains found at the mass grave includes, skeletons, disintegrated skull, rings, under wears and ropes believed to have been tied round the hands of the victims. Witnesses, who testified before the commission said the victims were tied with their hands behind and taken to Nyambai Forest for execution.
On November 11th, 1994, Lieutenant Basiru Barrow, Lt Abdoulie Dot Faal, Sgt Fafa Nyang, Sgt Basiru Camara, Lt Bakary Manneh, Cadet Amadou Sillah, Buba Jammeh, Sgt Gibril Saye and others were all executed without trail by the members of the AFPRC Junta after rumors of a suspected coup attempt.
All images courtesy of TRRC Facebook Page
A press release issued on the TRRC’s Facebook page stated that “A TRRC team … has discovered the remains of seven victims believed to have been the officers of the GNA killed during the November 11 incident. …. Members of the media and families of victims attended the scene of the exhumations. The chairman of the TRRC, Dr. Lamin J. Sise, other commissioners as well as senior members of the TRRC visited the site this morning.”
Speaking to journalists at the Yundum Barracks, Chairman of the Commission, Dr Lamin Sise extended condolences to the bereaved families and described the killings of the soldiers by the junta members as a burden on The Gambia. He assured the commission’s commitment to fulfilling their tasked, adding that they don’t want to see any re-occurrence of such tragedy in the country anymore.
“We couldn’t do this thing in secret, we have to come here and show the family members, show the country what this country went through. If anybody doubts it whether or not people were killed that they were buried in mass graves, well here is the evidence,” said Dr Sise.
He added: “It’s emotional for all of you and emotional for all staff of TRRC but more emotional for their families and a very heavy burden was put on The Gambia as a whole, for us to come here [and] see the mass grave of Gambians killed and see their remains is not an easy task for anybody.”
Meanwhile, Fatou Manneh, Fatou Sowe, Omar Dumbuya, Matarr Touray, Awa Njie all relatives of the victims expressed their devastation in for the deceased and called for patience among other family members.
All images courtesy of TRRC Facebook Page