In what The Point Newspaper 's award-wining editor Pap Saine calls a bombshell, 34 officers of the all too powerful Gambia  National Intelligency Agency (NIA) have been sacked over the weekend.Says the Point's lead story published in its Monday Edition, the high profile sacking is aimed at injecting new blood and a sense of professionalism to help in the  restoration of the agency's dwindling image.

      The sacking of the 34 officers conjectures the report, is attributable to incompetence of numerous officers whose departure it is anticipated will help reduce the enigma of long detentions without trial and probably, end the nightmare of witch-hunt related arrests that constitute the bulk of NIA's detainees. To this effect, a strongly worded circular has since been issued admonishing agents that "Probable Cause" sanctioned by the Director General was fundamental to all arrests of citizens lest they end up running a witcht-hunting agency. In its drive to give the NIA a human face, reduce bureaucratic gridlock and promote efficiency, five of its nine white elephant Directorates have been quashed leaving it with only four Directors. Henceforth says the report, if any person is suspected of a crime, the police will take up the matter in the law courts.Quoting highly placed sources, the report predicts that with Pa Jallow as new Director General, the NIA will undergo tremendous positive changes to regain the confidence and admiration of all citizens.

         In a related development, two of the agency's ex- Directors Messrs: Kemo Balajo and Alieu Singhateh who were arrested in the wake of the March, 2006 abortive coup and charged with conspiracy to commit treason, a crime punishable by death, have been released. Like the rest of the March detainees, these former high profile agents have been vegetating behind the harrowing walls of Mile Two Prisons since late March.

        In another twist, The Crime Management Co-ordinator of The Gambia Police Force Mr. Demba Sowe, has been sacked. He is replaced by Mamud Jobe. Sowe's sacking comes in less than a month after his predecessor Jatta Baldeh was also sacked.