Dr Amadou Sanneh, national treasurer for the United Democratic Party, has recounted the party’s ambush at Denton Bridge in 1996 by government soldiers.

Testifying before the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission on Tuesday, Dr. Sanneh said their campaign convoy was ambushed by elements of the Gambia Army who were led by Yankuba Touray, a senior member of the ruling AFPRC Junta.

“Our vehicles were stopped at Denton Bridge by soldiers and we were asked to sit on the ground. They undressed us and started beaten us with batons and pipes and stamping on us,” he said.

He added: “some were saying put them onto the truck and let them drown in the sea while some were saying let the driver drove in the fire and the vehicle will explode and all of them will die.”

Dr Sanneh told the Commission that the UDP supporters were transferred to Banjul Marina Parade after sustaining injuries from the tortures meted out to them by the soldiers at the Denton Bridge.

He said they were later taken to the National Intelligent Agency (NIA) headquarters in Banjul where they were stripped off their clothes and belongings and detained for 18 days without charge.

He described the detention conditions at the NIA as “horrible” and that “despite some NIA officers being brutal on them during their detention”, he noted that “some were kind to them.”

Throughout their 18 days detention at the NIA with injuries, Sanneh said they had received no medical treatment.

However, he said they only received medical treatment after their release at the NIA at the Kololi Clinic with the help of Dr. Ceesay.

Dr Amadou Sanneh was an Accountant General under the PPP regime and briefly worked under the AFPRC as both Accountant General and Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Trade.

After resigning his position as Deputy Permanent Decretary at the Ministry of Trade under the AFPRC government in the early part of 1996, he formed his accounting office in Banjul.

The post 2016 presidential election, he was selected by Gambian president Adama Barrow as his Minister of Finance and later deployed to the position of Trade Minster before his sacking in 2018 in a major cabinet reshuffle.

Reporting by Adama Makasuba