ATTEMPT ON THE LIFE OF POINT EDITOR JUSTICE DARBOE!!!

“The attacker places knife on my neck, trying to slaughter me. I fear for my life. I am going to quit the Newspaper business. I want to resettle in my home village of Gunjur. It’s unsafe to be a journalist in this country.” Justice Darboe Tells Freedom Newspaper.

JAMMEH GOV’T LINKED TO ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT!!

By  Pa Nderry M’Bai

Momodou Justice Darboe , an Editor with the Point Newspaper, narrowly escaped death Tuesday night, following an attempt on his life by an armed man believed to be an agent of The Gambian Government. The attacker who mounted a close surveillance on Justice Darboe, pursued him immediately he closes from work Tuesday night between the hours of 10pm  to  11pm. The attacker who boarded the same car with Justice Darboe, at the Point junction in Bakau, placed  a knife on the throat of Justice Darboe as soon as he disembarked from the taxi car at Wellingara. The attacker then attempted to slaughter the Point Editor Momodou, who was one time accused by Speaker Fatou Jahumpa Ceesay of being a Correspondent for the Freedom Newspaper. The Speaker on numerous occasions accuses Darboe and Editor Alhagie Mbye of being Correspondents for the Freedom Newspaper.

Panic stricken Momodou Darboe who survived the failed assassination attempt on his life, suffered numerous brushes and body pain from the Tuesday attack, which caused rude shock to the neighbors of Wellingara.  Thanks to some benevolent neighbors, Justice Darboe’s life was preserved. The attacker ran helter-skelter. He never took a dime from his victim. All the attacker was interested about  was to take the Editor’s life.

The Gambian Government is yet to react to allegations that its agent(s) wanted to kill Justice Darboe. Mr. Darboe was seen at the Wellingara police station, where he lodged a complaint about the said failed assassination attempt.

When contacted to shed light on the attempt on his life, Momodou Justice Darboe confirmed the story. “ Bro, I was nearly killed last night. A man wanted to kill me. He placed a knife on my neck, with the intention of slaughtering me. This is not a robbery, because the attacker never wanted my money, watch and mobile. His mission was to kill me in cold blood. He made numerous attempts to slaughter me, but I tried to restraint him. A scuffle ensued later. I sustained various degrees of injuries on my body. I fear for my life. I am going to quit journalism and resettle in my home village Gunjur. I have decided to quit journalism for safety reasons.” Momodou Darboe tells the Freedom Newspaper.

Justice Darboe said he no longer feel safe in The Gambia, as the attacker was posed to kill him. “ I thank God that I survived this assassination attack. The attacker pursued me all the way from the Point to Wellingara. His objective was to kill me, but thank God that he never succeeded. I am worried for my life. I want to leave the job. I am leaving the Newspaper business. This attack is very professional, because the attacker never wanted my money, watch, mobile and wallet. He was armed with a knife. He attempted to slaughter me. He held me by my neck. During the push and pull he ran away. The neighbors came to my rescue.” He added.

 Mr. Darboe says he went to investigate the sale of expired food stuff at the Kairaba shopping mall, few hours prior to the incident. He says the manager of the Mall denied the story, even though he was informed by reliable sources about the sale of expired food stuffs at the mall.

It would be recalled that both Momodou Justice Darboe and Editor Alhagie Mbye were confronted by the Point Management in early 2008, for their alleged association with the Freedom Newspaper.

During that Editorial staff meeting, Reporter Isatou Badjan pointed accusing fingers against Darboe and Mbye of stealing stories from the Point file taking  them to the Freedom Newspaper. Isatou Badjan went as far as telling News Editor Ebrima Sawaneh that she was going to report the matter to his boy friend former army Colonel Peter Singhatey, so that the matter can be resolved. Isatou believed that since Darboe and Mbye were the custodians of editorial files, should be held responsible for any information leakages at the Point. She threatens that unless the NIA tortured the two, the truth about the whole saga, will never come to light.

Editor Justice Darboe became angry, but was restrained by his colleagues. The meeting ended in stalemate, as tempers flared up.

At the material time, Co Proprietor Pap Saine was in Taiwan with the Vice President attending a conference. The Vice personally complained to Saine about the Freedom Newspaper’s alleged ties with the Point. Visibly panic stricken Pap Saine immediately issued a Memo to his editors to convene an emergency meeting, which was aimed at among other things to warn reporters to disassociate themselves from Freedom.

At that meeting, Ebrima Sawaneh read a letter jointly written by the Inspector General of Police Ben Jammeh and the LATE NIA DG Pa Jallow who threatened to close down the Point Newspaper if the paper fails to take the necessary actions to control editorial files being leaked to the Freedom Newspaper.

The Freedom Newspaper is currently having a copy of the said letter, which was circulated to all Point Reporters. We wouldn’t mind to reproduce the said letter, if the Government wants to make noise.

The Freedom Newspaper has received irrefutable evidence that The Gambian Government is behind the failed attempt on the life of Momodou Justice Darboe.  For more on this story stay tuned.