Another Jammeh Victim Is Down

First it was Ebrima Solo Sandeng who was murdered in cold-blooded by deposed President Yahya Jammeh’s security dogs whose only language of coercion had been late night tortures that left many people either dead or semi-human. Mr. Sandeng, a former Organising Secretary of the United Democratic Party (UDP), had not committed any crime that warranted cold-blooded murder. All he did was to lead opposition political activists to demonstrate against unleveled political playing field ahead of the 2016 presidential election. None of the protesters was armed. All Sandeng had was the microphone he was using to spread information. That was in a country where everything became a threat to the government. The paranoid Jammeh government could have listened to the protesters demands or question and release them. Who expects humans with animal instinct to become civil? Protesters were rounded up and sandwiched in police cars and detained until at night when they unleashed terror on them. Sandeng died in the hands of terror agents who are standing murder trial. The women protesters too tasted the agents wrath. Stripped naked, raped and beaten, these women were left honourless, an excess that invited Allah’s anger. It was then that scholars like Imam Ceesay was convinced that Yahya Jammeh’s leadership hit the rock. “This demonic Gambia leader who imitate Pharaoh (Fir’awn) has his days numbered,” Imam Ceesay repeatedly said.

Solo was gone, so too was the brutal dictator who thought a mortal being could not end his presidency. Sandeng’s last words that his death would free from the yoke stood up became real. The news of the cruel murder pushed UDP leader Ousainou Darboe and his party members to the streets. They too were met with maximum force before being remanded and convicted by the kangaroo court. The election of Adama Barrow was like a manna from heaven, resulting to the release of all political prisoners. Before Jammeh was gone, Solo Krumang, another opposition activist succumbed to torture.

Tortured UDP political activists are dying by turn. Lang Marong and Ebrima Janko Ceesay too could not reap the fruits of their labour. The living have since been going for treatment.

Each time Gambians want to celebrate the victory over dictatorship news of emerges that another Jammeh victim has fallen. Kalilou Saidykhan last night became the latest victim. Affectionately called Kalilou Jojo, the Jarra Kani-kunda native would not take illiteracy for an excuse to free his enslaved people. Kalilou’s love for his country and people had driven him to protest along with Solo Sandeng. It was a decision he had not regretted even though its aftermath had not brought him good health. Saidykhan had since been seeking treatment until he breathed his last. The likes of Kalilou Saidykhan are the Real Unsung Heroes who deserve to be remembered. These are the fallen heroes who fight with their heart and mind expecting no material rewards.

Kalilou Saidykhan, the political activist who left behind a wife and children, was a very easy-going person who wanted justice and fairness for all. His death has shocked so many people. May his gentle soul and those that went before him rest in Eternal Peace.

Ends