The Deputy Inspector General of Police, Abdoulie Sanyang, has assured the public that his forces will protect people and their properties in the Gambia at all times.

DIG Sanyang was speaking at a graduation ceremony of 40 personnel from the Gambia Police Force trained on public order management.

“We will want to assure the general public that we will neither relent nor give up on our responsibility to protect the people of this beloved country,” he assured.

He said one of the police priorities is to build the capacity of its personnel saying they need to be accountable to the public.

The DIG described the two weeks training as “a culmination of a bilateral engagement between the governments of the Gambia and the France to enhance the capacity of our police force.”

“Our mission is to maintain the rule of law by public consent using politically accepted method with due regard to human rights. Therefore, in order to effectively do this the personnel must be well equipped and well trained,” he added.

According to him, the training is in line with the security service delivery of the Gambia that “aims to enhance the service delivery of the security forces and services for safe and secure Gambia.”

He reminded the officers trained on public order management to “share knowledge gained in the training with their colleagues.”

He described practical training for the police personnel as ‘paramount’ adding that “because public expression of these kinds are becoming more and more common and all the nations must have the ability to quickly and efficiently put down such disorder.”

However, many Gambians view the training of the police officers on public order management as a move to suppress their rights to express their views through peaceful assembly and protest.

And the Gambia government has recently bought a water cannon truck which the Minister of Interior Ebrima Mballow said at a political rally in Brikama that “it would be used to spray hot water on protesters.”

Many Gambians have rejected his remarks as “irresponsible and scaremongering”.

Reporting by Adama Makasuba