Coup Rumour Mongers Detained The Independent (Banjul) August 3, 2001 Posted to the web August 3, 2001 P. K. Jarju Banjul, the Gambia A former Officer Commanding Farafenni Police Station Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Kulu Gibba and one Jim Jallow, a Marabout at Kerr Sulay were allegedly recently detained by the NIA in connection with rumours of a coup plot. The two have since been released on bail after spending three days in detention. Recently, ASP Kulu Gibba who was also accused of involvement in armed robbery in Farafenni allegedly connived with Marabout Jim Jallow and one Alpha Bah to rob one Mauritanian businessman Sheikh Faal of about D66, 000. The Police Serious Crime Unit was said to have been investigating the matter. It is reported that two weeks ago, ASP Kulu Gibba accompanied Marabout Jim Jallow to the Inspector General of Police Ebou Njie to inform him about an alleged coup plot being hatched by some police officers at Farafenni Police Station. In his narration to the IGP, Marabout Jallow reportedly recounted how one Couple Momodou Manneh had approached him for some charms to help them overthrow the government of President Jammeh. He said Cpl. Manneh allegedly told him that President Jammeh had no regard for the police but instead gives more attention and respect to members of the army. Manneh allegedly told Marabout Jallow how every soldier was being given one bag of rice and 10 litres of cooking oil at the end of every month while the police were given nothing. He also allegedly told Marabout Jallow that President Jammeh's low regard for the police could be seen from the appointment of a motor mechanic as IGP and a "Fula who knew nothing and who has less than twenty years service" as Deputy IGP. According to Marabout Jallow, when he demanded from Cpl. Manneh the names of his co-conspirators, he (Manneh) named them as Landing Bojang, Fanding Ceesay, Bakary Jadama, Abdoulie Jammeh and Fulo Mbye, all police officers at Farafenni Police Station. Marabout Jallow said he charged them D5000 for the charms. He said Cpl. Manneh came to his house on April 12 with an advance payment of D1000 and promised to pay the balance if the charms were delivered according to planned. He said Cpl. Manneh also appealed to him to keep the matter secret. He (Manneh) also allegedly told him that the 1981 rebel leader Kukoi Samba Sanyang and some Cassamance dissidents were ready to assist them during the operation to overthrow the APRC government. However, Marabout Jallow said Cpl. Manneh told him not to let ASP Gibba know about it, as he was an informer for President Jammeh. Marabout Jallow alleged further that on April 25, Cpl. Manneh again came to his house and he (Jallow) told him that he had 'seen' signs that the coup was going to succeed, but he told them that unless they paid him the balance of the money, he was not going to prepare the charms. At the end of his narration, Marabout Jallow was said to have renewed his support for President Jammeh, saying he is a patriotic citizen, who would never harm President Jammeh. He said that was why he decided to disclose the alleged plot so that the authorities would know about it. Meanwhile a senior police officer has told The Independent that the marabout was paid D5000 to fabricate the story of a coup plot and take it to the newspapers as a form of retaliation against the Farafenni police as a form of revenge. He also claimed that both Jim Jallow and Kulu Gibba have confessed to the NIA, which was confirmed to The Independent by an insider. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------