Dec. 21 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Gambian authorities have announced on Wednesday the arrest of four soldiers who were planning a coup to overthrow the president, Adama Barrow, while stressing that there are operations underway to arrest three other suspects.
The Gambian government spokesman, Ebrima Sankareh, said in a statement that “according to intelligence reports, some Gambian Army soldiers were planning to overthrow the democratically elected government of President Adama Barrow.”
Thus, it has indicated that the High Command of the Armed Forces of the Gambia carried out on Tuesday “a quick military operation” that resulted in the arrest of “four soldiers linked to this alleged plot to carry out a coup.” “The detained soldiers are helping the Military Police in their investigations,” she stressed.
Sankareh stressed that “investigations into this matter continue and the public will be informed of any developments as the situation progresses,” while asking Gambians to “continue with their normal activities.” “The situation is under complete control and there is no need to panic,” she has concluded.
Barrow was sworn in in January for a second term after the Supreme Court rejected at the end of December the appeal filed by the main opposition candidate against the official results of the December 4, 2021 elections.
The president achieved re-election despite the fact that this meant breaking his promise to only be in office for three years -which were fulfilled in 2020-, after reaching a controversial alliance with the party of the former dictator Yahya Jamé and after some allies will leave his side to compete against him.
The president, who won the victory in December 2016 after presenting his candidacy as an independent with the support of groups opposed to Jamé, was sworn in in January 2017 after the dictator went into exile in Equatorial Guinea after rejecting its defeat at first, which led to a threat of military intervention by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
