The Point Published Friday, 30 June, 2000 | |||||||||||||||||||
Family Expresses Concern Over Whereabouts of Momodou Saho |
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The family of Momodou Saho alias
Dumo says he was picked up from his home in London corner by plainclothes
men, who said he was wanted at the Banjul police station. According to the
family the incident took place on Saturday June 24 between 5.30 and 6 p.m.
According to Amie Saho, Dumo's younger sister
the family had searched for him at the Banjul police station and the
National intelligence Agency headquarters in Banjul, but could not trace
him. Annika Renberg, the wife, who is Swedish, said she and Dumo's younger
brother, Mustapha Saho, had spent two hours at the NIA gate in Banjul
trying to make contact, but were not allowed in by the gatekeepers who
told them that Dumo was not there. This was on Monday the 26th June, after
several calls at the Banjul police station where they were asked to try
the NIA. The wife subsequently reported at the Banjul police station that
her husband was missing, and was abducted.
Asked if there was some politics involved ,
Annika said she was not sure, but that she knows Dumo was a "political
person," and had lived in Sweden for ten years in exile because of
political activities, but had since retired from active politics owing to
the demise of the political organization to which he belonged.
She said Dumo was a member of the Movement
of Justice in Africa, MOJA Gambia chapter (Moja –G), to which most of his
friends now in the APRC government belonged. She said Dumo has not been
interested with any other political party in the Gambia following the
demise of Moja-G, and had always remained apolitical.
Dumo is a founder member of a non government
organization, "Boka Loho" which is currently running community development
projects in the urban, semi urban and the rural areas of the Gambia. Among
these are two skills centres in Latrikunda Piccadilly and Last Bundung.
According to the nightwatchman at the "Boka
Loho" skills and multipurpose centre at Latrikunda, one Momodou Jallow of
Nemakunda, plainclothe men knocked at the gate of the centre on Wednesday
night at about 2 a.m. asking for Dumo. He said by this time he had already
locked the gate, and told them he does not open when he had already
closed, and that it was also very late in the night. One of the men, he
said, jumped over the fence and opened the locked gate to let in four
others, while others waited outside with two vehicles. He said the four
men searched the place all over before returning to join the others
waiting outside with the vehicles. |
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