Point Editor/Freedom National Correspondent Breaks The Silence

….Following Attempt On His Life By The Jammeh Gov’t

Dakar Hospital Receives Wounded Point/Freedom Correspondent

By Edrissa Jobe, Dakar.                                                             

Dakar: 7/10/08-Barely a week after an assassination attempt on him, Momodou Justice Darboe, a senior editor with The Point newspaper cum Freedom Newspaper National Correspondent  in The Gambia, today visited Centre Hospitalier National Univasitaire De Fann in Dakar for further medical consultations.

Mr.Darboe, knife-shocked, crestfallen and dejected, fled The Gambia on Friday after all hopes were dashed for his treatment in the country following a knife attack on him on Tuesday of last week.

It would be recalled that Mr. Darboe was on Tuesday of last week subjected to a vicious knife attack that left some scars on his body. Barely 24 hrs after the attack on him, Darboe was whisked away to the Faji Kunda Health Centre in the Kanifing Municipality but was told that there wasn’t enough drugs for him and must, therefore, go to a private pharmacy to receive adequate medical attention.

Still suffering from acute bodily pains and urinary troubles after the "assassination" attempt, Darboe is now hoping to convalesce from the devastating shock inflicted on him by his assailant who is yet to be arrested by the Gambian authorities. The Point Newspaper had already contributed D200 to his medical expenditures and promised to do more if the need arises. Mr.Pa Nderry Mbai, the Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of The Freedom Newspaper, Gambia’s premier online Newspaper, had contributed 200 Dollars to Darboe"s welfare whilst Mr. Michael Scales, a true and undeniable friend of The Gambia, also contributed 200 Dollars for Darboe" s recovery.

In an exclusive interview with this paper from Dakar, Mr. Darboe says he’s indeed grateful to Messrs. Pa Nderry Mbai, Michael Scales and Pap Saine of The Point and Freedom newspapers respectively, for their compassion during his time of distress.

" The trio have indeed proven to be towers of support. Both Michael, Pa and Pap really deserve commendation for their invaluable support. I definitely value their support as it could not have come at a more opportuned time," admitted Darboe.

Well before the knife attack, Darboe had received lots of threats from the current Speaker of the Gambia’s National Assembly for his contributions to the US-based online and The Point newspapers. Hon. Jahumpa Ceesay, who Darboe regards as a God mother and a friend who used to invite him for lunch, had threatened Darboe that most of her skeletons in the cupboard used to leak to Freedom Newspaper and that it was either him or someone else who was passing the information to Freedom newspaper as well as writing critical articles about President Jammeh on The Point newspaper. Hitherto this pronouncement, Fatou Jahumpa had called Darboe to her Kanifing Estate residence where she issued threats on him in the presence of a Presidential Guard who was implicated in the March 21 military putsch.

" You are an intelligent young man and have a long way to go. You have to be very careful or else you will be killed like your mentor; Deyda Hydara and nothing will come out of it" threatened Jahumpa.