Ferry Security Chief Says He Was Sent Home After Letting Opposition Leader’s Car Onto Terminal During First Lady’s Crossing

By Fatou Sillah

The head of security at the Gambia Ferry Services said he was sent home from work after allowing a vehicle belonging to Ebrima Dibba, national president of the UNITE Party, onto the terminal complex in Banjul on Sunday, at the same time the First Lady, Fatoumatta Bah Barrow, was crossing to Barra.

The security chief, Lamin Bojang, said his general manager, Fabakary Manka, questioned him over the decision and then told him to stay home until Friday.

“I was sent home by my boss after the incident that happened between Ebrima Dibba and the First Lady Fatoumatta Bah Barrow. He called me and asked me to go home until Friday,” Bojang said.

According to Bojang, he told Dibba when he arrived with his driver that the First Lady’s convoy was also crossing that day and asked him to wait until the convoy had entered the terminal. He said Dibba agreed and parked near the trucks, as instructed, away from the VIP area reserved for the convoy.

Bojang said he then went to the main gate, and it was only after hearing a commotion inside the terminal that he learned of a confrontation. He said someone handed him a phone with Manka on the line, who asked whether he had known the First Lady was coming. Bojang said he answered that he had, prompting Manka to ask why he had allowed Dibba’s vehicle onto the complex regardless.

Bojang said he tried to explain that Dibba had arrived before the First Lady, that he was a political leader entitled to the same treatment extended to other party leaders, and that his vehicle had not obstructed the convoy. He said Manka hung up before he could finish.

Manka later called back and instructed him to go home and stay there until Friday, Bojang said, without offering further explanation despite Bojang being scheduled to work in the intervening days.

“My crime was only allowing Dibba’s vehicle inside the ferry terminal where the First Lady was. But that has never been an issue,” he said.

Bojang said he was unaware of any confrontation between Dibba and the First Lady at the time it occurred and that his role was limited to admitting Dibba’s vehicle onto the terminal grounds.

“For almost 20 years, when opposition vehicles come, we give opposition vehicles due respect and treat them like we treat others,” he said.

He added that he received no written notice regarding the decision to send him home; the instruction, he said, was given only verbally.

The episode unfolded Sunday at the Gambia Ferry Services terminal in Banjul amid reports of a confrontation involving Dibba and the First Lady as both prepared to cross to Barra.