Banjul — Less than a week after last Thursday's presidential elections, in which President Yahya Jammeh emerged victorious, there has been a spate of arrests of members of the opposition and human rights activists, as well as reported attacks on the homes of some senior members of the main opposition party, the United Democratic Party (UDP).
Among those arrested and detained was Mohammed Lamin Sillah, coordinator of the Coalition of Human Rights Defenders, who is also secretary general of the local branch of Amnesty International.
Mr Sillah was picked up from the Amnesty office in Banjul on Monday by four agents of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), who took him to their head office, also in Banjul.
According to Saidou Ann, the office assistant at the Amnesty office, all that the NIA agents would tell Sillah was that he was wanted at their office in Banjul, but they would not give him a reason.
When contacted, the secretary for the Coalition of Human Rights Defenders, Lawyer Emmanuel Joof, said he had no idea why Mr. Sillah should be arrested.
"He was on BBC on Sunday talking about the continuous detention of some opposition supporters and calling on the government to release them. That is the only reason I would imagine he was arrested for," Mr Joof said.
Attempts to get further information with the NIA proved unsuccessful.
Among others detained was Dr. Momodou Manneh, a former minister in the deposed Jawara regime and a prominent member of the revived Peoples Progressive Party (PPP).
According to his wife, Mrs. Joko Jagne-Manneh, her husband was arrested at their home in Tallinding, Serekunda, at about 4pm on Monday by several NIA personnel who, she said, forcefully threw Dr. Manneh into a waiting vehicle and drove away without giving any reasons for his arrest.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Dr. Manneh was, however, released on Tuesday evening and asked to report back to NIA headquarters Wednesday.
Another person briefly picked up on Tuesday and later released was independent Radio One FM proprietor George Christensen. Again, no reasons were given for his arrest, and he was asked to report back Wednesday morning.
On Sunday, there were reports of a series of attacks on the homes of certain members of the UDP in Brikama, about 30 kilometers east of the capital Banjul. Those whose homes were reportedly attacked by members of the ruling APRC's youth wing included the UDP propaganda secretary, Lamin Waa Juwara, UDP youth wing leader Momodou Shyngle Nyassi and PPP member Dembo Jatta.
A press release issued by the interior ministry on Monday confirmed a number of arrests by police in various parts of the country, in connection with some alleged unspecified crimes. The release did not disclose the names of those arrested.
