This was culled from the point: As NGO's, Diplomats and concerned 
Gambians filed protest against the kidnaping and detention of our dear 
sister, the police apparatus' excuse/accusation against activist/progressives 
is either: DRUG TRAFFICKING OR CONSPIRING TO OVERTHROW THE ILLEGITIMATE 
REGIME OF YAHYA JAMMEH. 
                        
    
    PCOs Interrogate Santang Jobarteh

Gender activist Satang Jobarteh on Thursday was interrogated by plain cloth 
officers at the Kairaba police station. Reliable sources reaching this 
newspaper said some plain cloth officers on Thursday, raided the house of 
Satang Jobarteh, a renowned gender activist. According to our sources, the 
raid followed claims that Mrs. Jobarteh, who is the proprietor of Simma 
Vocational Training Centre, was allegedly engaged in drug trafficking. A 
charge the gender activist strongly denied, saying that the whole thing was 
aimed at smearing her image. 

Satang Jobarteh told The Point is an exclusive interview that she was not the 
least intimidated by the raid as her hands are clean. She said as a women’s 
rights activist and a writer, she would never involve herself in such shady 
deals and vowed to contiune in the struggle for women’s rights. Explaining 
the circumstances that led to her invitation to the Kairaba Police station 
for questioning, Mrs. Jobarteh said, “On Thursday, when I finished work, 
three unidentified gentlemen, not in uniform actually, so I wouldn’t be able 
to call them police.

I don’t know. They came to my house and told me they wanted to search the 
place because they had information that I was involved in drug trafficking”. 
According to Mrs. Jobarteh, she requested the three men to identify 
themselves and one of them identified himself as Mr. Jeng. He later showed 
her an identity card but refused for its particulars to be read. “When I 
wanted to read, they said people were not allowed to touch the card. So, I 
said, well you are highly welcomed, you can go ahead with your investigation 
if that is the case, “ said Mrs. Jobarteh. She added that after an intensive 
search of her house, the officers could not find the drugs said to have been 
hidden in her apartment. 

She told The Point that the three men wanted to whisk her off secretly to the 
Kairaba Police Station but she insisted that there should be somebody to 
witness her departure. “I told them it is not safe because nobody was around 
to witness my departure. I am living alone and if I should go without people 
knowing about, it could be detrimental to me”, said Mrs. Jobarteh. When asked 
whether she knew why the officers should search her house, she replied: “It 
is surprise to me.

I didn’t really know, but as an activist you have to accept and expect some 
of these things anytime. This is the price of activism.” She added that 
nothing is easy and gender activists should be ready to expect some of these 
things. She added that the raid would only give her more vigour to carry out 
her work pointing out that “as an activist you really have to be strong; you 
have an objective that you want to attain and you have to carry on. You have 
to be strong, you have to be assertive”.
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