Baboucarr Sanneh, a former bodyguard to exiled Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh, has detailed the harsh conditions he endured during eight years in prison after being accused of plotting to overthrow President Adama Barrow in 2017.

Sanneh, who served under Jammeh during his 22-year rule, claims he was targeted simply because of his association with the former president and rumours about hidden armories.

“I was called to Fajara Barracks, handed over my phones, and informed I was under arrest,” he recalled. “They twisted timber issues into a false coup attempt.”

He described being held incommunicado for five months without family contact before being transferred to Mile Two prison, where conditions were brutal.

“We spent two years going through a court martial,” he said, alleging that he was pressured to confess under threats referencing Jammeh’s own harsh methods. “But how can a sergeant lead a coup when there are generals?” he questioned.

In 2020, the Court of Appeal acquitted Sanneh and others convicted alongside him, quashing their nine-year sentences. The three female judges unanimously ruled there was insufficient evidence to sustain the treason charges.

Reflecting on Jammeh’s leadership, Sanneh said the former president valued loyalty, skill, and discipline.

“As he used to say, ‘A time will come when even Westerners will come to work in The Gambia,’” Sanneh recalled. “Many Gambians remember Jammeh as protective and unwilling to see his people suffer.”

Sanneh’s account comes amid ongoing debates about justice, detention conditions, and the treatment of former regime loyalists in post-Jammeh Gambia.

By Adama Makasuba