The authorities in The Gambia have confirmed the arrest of another suspect days after an attempted coup was allegedly foiled, APA can report on Friday.
Corporal Baboucarr Njie of the State Guard Battalion who was identified as part of the abortive plot to unseat President Adama Barrow last Tuesday was nabbed on Thursday and according to government spokesman Ebrima G. Sankareh is being detained at an undisclosed location.
It brings to five, the number of suspects under detention in connection with the failed insurrection after the arrest on Wednesday of Lance Corporal Sanna Fadera of the Gambian navy, who is reported as the ringleader.
The others are Couple Mbarra Touray of the 1st Infantry Battalion, Couple Ebrahima Sanno of the military police who is currently on study leave and Sergeant Gibril Darboe of the navy.
Corporal Baboucarr Njie was one of three suspects thought to have been on the run as the coup attempted was thwarted by the high command of The Gambian Armed Forces.
The military hierarchy said a manhunt is still underway to apprehend two others still at large and identified as one Warrant Officer Class 2 Lamin Jadama and another named simply as Badjie.
The full nature of the alleged plot is being still being investigated, spokesman Sakareh said.
The West African regional grouping Ecowas and the African Union have condemned the attempted takeover as an unacceptable affront on democracy.
There has been no word from President Barrow, whose government has come under strong criticism from citizens over its apparent inaction against the rising cost of living and state of insecurity across the country.
Mr. Barrow who defeated predecessor Yahya Jammeh in the 2016 presidential election also won a second mandate in December 2021.
Meanwhile, life across mainland Africa’s smallest state appears to be going on as normal with people going about their business in the aftermath of the foiled coup plot.
Reports of a foiled coup comes just days after Jammeh who fled into exile in Equatorial Guinea six years ago, vowed he would return to lead The Gambia at an unspecified period and purge the government of those who’d apparently betrayed his legacy.
He was speaking to supporters while phoning in on a recent rally of a faction of the former ruling party still recognizing him as their leader.
Jammeh 57, is accused of gross human rights violations including rape, torture and forced disappearances during his 22-year rule.
He made a dramatic U-turn from conceding defeat to Barrow to challenging the results which plunged the country into a month-long political crisis.
WN/as/APA