Gambiaj.com – (BANJUL, The Gambia) – At least six young men remain in detention following protests in Lamin Mandinary over the alleged killing of Omar Badjie by officers of the Gambia Police Force, rights group Team Gom Sa Bopa said on Saturday.
The group, accompanied by human rights lawyer Assan Martin, visited the detainees on 27 September 2025 at Yundum Police Station, where they confirmed the continued detention of the youths arrested in connection with the unrest at Lamin Mandinary NTC.
Those detained include Alieu Bah, Basiru Fatty, Amadou Dem, Momodou Jang Jallow, Musa Manneh, and Langtong Jarju.
Team Gom Sa Bopa has called for their immediate and unconditional release, citing earlier pronouncements by the authorities that all youths detained over the incident would be freed.
The arrests followed violent demonstrations sparked by the death of Omar Badjie, who reportedly died while in police custody on 26 September. While the police said Badjie fell during a chase and later died in hospital, multiple eyewitnesses have accused the police of beating him after his arrest.
In a statement issued after the visit, Team Gom Sa Bopa reiterated its demand for justice for Omar Badjie and other victims of alleged police brutality.
“The police are not judge, jury, and executioner. Their duty is to arrest suspects using reasonable force and to ensure justice through the courts, not to take lives,” the group said.
The organization also referenced findings of the Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations Commission (TRRC), which documented patterns of police abuses, cover-ups, and impunity stretching from the April 2000 student killings to the 2019 death of Ousman Darboe and other incidents under the current administration.
Team Gom Sa Bopa urged the Office of National Security, the Gambia Police Force, and the National Human Rights Commission to conduct swift and impartial investigations into Badjie’s death and all other cases of alleged police killings, stressing that “enough is enough.”
The arrests mark a tense escalation in Lamin Mandinary, where protests over Badjie’s death have heightened fears of renewed clashes between security forces and angry residents.
