The Gambian army announced on Saturday August 10 the arrest of a former General, alleged member of a death squad under Yahya Jammeh. Former brigadier-general Bora Colley is suspected of belonging to a paramilitary unit nicknamed the “Junglers”. He fled after the fall of the dictator in 2017.
According to a press release from the Gambian Army, Bora Colley surrendered shortly after midnight on Friday August 9 to the military Police at Yundum camp, near the capital Banjul. He was then arrested by the authorities. The former general has since been detained and is “cooperating with the military Police in investigations” concerning his alleged former unit.
The “Junglers” were a paramilitary unit responsible for “carrying out illegal assassination orders” to “intimidate the Gambian population and repress the opposition”. This military corps was created in the early 2000s by the Gambian government, primarily to protect President Yahya Jammeh.
Bora Colley had fled Gambia when the dictator fell after his defeat in the 2016 presidential election. He is now back in the country. In its press release, the army assures that “information relating to the circumstances and date of his entry into Gambia will be communicated to the public.” It explains that on the day of his arrest, surveillance operations were carried out around his residence in Banjul.