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MOB TORCHES POLICE BOSS’S HOUSE
As Brikama Anger Simmers in Wednesday’s Protest
By Ebrima Papa Colley (Gambiano)
Reports reaching forGambia say an angry mob launched an arson attack at the house of the Commander of the Anti-crime Unit of the Gambia Police Force, Commissioner Gorgui Mboob few hours ago Wednesday. The police anti-crime boss lives in Ebo Town, in the Serrekunda area.
ForGambia is yet to confirm any official correlation between the angry mob’s action and the death of one Ousman Darboe, a sierra Leonean national caught in the middle of investigations regarding stolen items found in his possession at his shop in the Serrekunda Market.
Sources informed forGambia that Mboop is the head of the Anti-Crime unit, a special subsection of the Gambia Police Force. His unit’s primary tasks is to combat rising crime in The Gambia, including burglaries and petti thefts, especially of mobile phones—a phenomenon that taunts the Gambian public these days.
Sources continued that since the formation of Mboob’s unit, “They have made several arrests as well as recoveries of stolen items, especially phones.” Consequently, the late Ousman Darboe became engulfed in Mboob’s unit’s investigations, leading to his subsequent arrest after some allegedly stolen items were found at his Serrekunda small business.
In May 2019, Mr. Gorgi Mboob officially promised that Gambia would be crime-free by 2020, only to realize Wednesday, that charity, in his case, didn’t begin at home. Gambia’s Serrekunda market area is a notoriety for petti-thieves who trade in stolen items, ranging from cells phones, laptops, flash drives, etc.
The deals are usually carried out under maximum suspicion and vigilance with keen cognizance of any police raids. The slum-like, unkempt second floor of the yellow market building has been a favorite hideout for thieves who, bargaining with stolen items, still attracted customers.
Around the years 2000 to 2002, the area was known for selling, sometimes, shoes that were wet and freshly cleaned. It was not uncommon to see a pair of Nike or Adidas shoes being sold under clear suspicions that perhaps a victim just washed, cleaned, and hung them home.
The advent of the electronic marvel age of cell phones, flat screens, laptops, iPads, and more highly-craved items has completely boosted the popularity of this dark sale at a dark floor of a dark market frequented not just by subjects of police raid, but fires, at least in the last decade.
Meanwhile, other protesters thronged the streets of Brikama to vent at the Area Council’s current administration. About a week ago, forGambia learned that preparations were underway for the protest, with slogans including, “Occupy BAC.”
Video messages reaching us show police firing tear gas at protesters in the streets of Brikama while profane languages were heard continuously. It is not clear who were hurling the insults. The words, continuously yelled in Mandinka referred to mothers’ genitals.
Such slogans could be seen on social media walls of individuals domicile in The United States, efforts to speak to whom proved unsuccessful in the wake of Wednesday’s stir.
A Brikama resident Wednesday morning informed forGambia that the protesters argued that the Area Council “Isn’t doing their job. So they’re not happy with the chief executive, Sheriffo Sonko.”
