The Kartong Military Barracks Attack, July 21, 1997
-A Sir Jackal Exclusive-II
By Ebrima G. Sankareh, Editor-In-Chief
In our last edition, we reproduced verbatim Part I of our exclusive interview with fugitive Sergeant Alhagie Cham Joof (a.k.a Sir Jackal) and promised to continue with the rest of his arresting narrative. Today we bring you Part II of our exclusive five-hour telephone interview with Sgt. Alhagie Cham Joof from his base in Germany.
Sergeant Alhagie Cham Joof (a.k.a Sir Jackal)
ECHO: Before we talk about your time in Katack and your encounter with your colleagues, Lieutenants Bah, Jammeh and Jarju, I want you to be more specific about your visits to the peripheral villages of Kartong and Darsilami while you were on the junta’s most wanted list. According to my sources, you even visited Brikama and Serekunda and I wonder how credible this report is?
JOOF: (Prolonged laughter and then composes himself). Yes, that is true. I visited both Brikama and Serekunda. While I visited Kartong and Darsilami for purely business reasons, I visited Serekunda but only once to study the situation and get my clothes and some items I left behind during the events of November 11, 1994.
ECHO: I know soldiers can be a very funny lot and very secretive but since you want to clear the air; every Gambian wants to know what really happened. Tell us how you visited Serekunda and returned to Cassamance unnoticed.
JOOF: After my comrades were executed and the rest of us fled Gambia, I chose to settle at Katack and despite advice from numerous people to proceed to Ziquinchor or Dakar and register as a refugee, I refused. All along, my desire was to return one day and chase Jammeh out of office. I would sit down night after night thinking about Lt. Dot Faal, Lt. Basiru Barrow, Lt. Gibril Saye, Lt. Abdoulie Bah (Choppi), Lt. Manneh (Nyancho), Lt. Buba Manneh (Gendarmerie), Cadet Amadou Sillah, Sgt. Ebrima Ceesay, Sgt. Fafa Nyang, Sgt. Basiru Camara, Sgt. Sabally and all those killed. So one night, I confided in my landlord the burning desire to return home but he thought I was suicidal. After one month at Katack, in December, 1994 when the junta was most brutal and feared, I told my landlord that I was tired of wearing the same trousers and shirt for a month, that I must go to Serekunda and pick my suitcases if I were to continue living at Katack. He tried to convince me not to venture but I persisted and one evening, I went to his house and asked that he prayed for me that come what may, I was leaving. The old man, one of the kindest people I have ever met, walked me through the alley and prayed for me. He also gave me something to swallow assuring me that even if you were to be arrested, you could never defecate this in custody. I walked to the riverbank and paddled a canoe I found anchored and in 20minutes I was in The Gambia. I took the local routes and walked the thick forest reaching Darsilami late evening. I took a taxi to Brikama and stopped by an old friend’s house. When my friend saw me he was dumbfounded because he thought I was mentally sick- me a wanted man coming to Brikama. He immediately asked what my mission was. I explained that I was going to Serekunda. “Are you really ok, Sir Jackal? My friend asked. After I ate, I asked that he walk me to the Brikama Car Park. He walked me there and I took a taxi seated in the front passenger seat en route to Serekunda. At Yundum Police Post, the van was stopped and the police and security forces conducted their routine inspection of the vehicle and asked the driver to proceed. While the police and security officers stared at me, none spoke to me; we were looking at each other, probably in disbelief. In Serekunda, the van stopped at Super Bird Night Club from where I walked to a nephew’s apartment, one Kabba Njie. When I knocked at Kabba’s door, he was there with a visiting girl friend. My nephew was so nervous that he was almost speechless. I wonder what you are doing here he kept asking. I consoled him and asked that I was bored at Katack, that I wore the same shirt and trousers for a month; that my best friends have been executed, that I also missed my wife and my children two daughters and a son at the time, and I saw no meaning in life. My nephew said while all that was true, I must try and leave The Gambia immediately before someone reports me to the AFPRC and I too be executed like my comrades. After a very heated discussion, my nephew convinced me to return to Katack. I then told him that I was going to Bundung to visit my wife and get my bag but he refused. Instead, Kabba Njie drove to my Bundung house and packed all that I wanted and in the company of his very good friend, picked me up from his apartment and drove to the Gambian border village of Darsilami. As we drove out of the village, I asked that they stop and let me out. I then melted into the thick woods of Darsilami headed to my newly found save haven, Katack. I arrived at Katack early morning and found my landlord with prayer beads (rosaries) in his hands. He asked whether I had cancelled my trip to Serekunda and I explained that I had made it and returned, I then pulled my suitcase as evidence. “Ce`par possible” he exclaimed in French.
ECHO: No incidents on the way to Darsilami or Katack?
JOOF: No incidents, very smooth trip but I left The Gambia with a very heavy heart thinking about my fallen comrades, the way they were executed, my loving wife, two daughters and son.
ECHO: Are you still in touch with your nephew/ friend?
JOOF: No, Kabba Njie was sick and later died. Do you think I was going to give you his name if he were alive? Bro. You have to take security precautions when dealing with a coward like Yahya Jammeh; he can arrest people just because Sir Jackal says he met them.
ECHO: Oh yes, we at The Echo are well aware of that. Now tell us what life was as a refugee in Katack.
JOOF: With my clothes and little things in hand I was determined to make a difference. Under the circumstances, I calculated that business would be very good because Katack by its nature was a small village, geographically very strategic and most supplies were not readily available. I then opened a small shop and saved money. Within one year, I built mud blocks with the help of my landlord; I then built a two-bedroom house, with a boutique, and a modest toilet facility. I would open the shop at 6:00Am and close as late as 1:00Am. Later on, my family joined me and that was a great sigh of relief, it adjusted me mentally. In fact, my youngest daughter Awa Cham Joof was conceived at Katack and my wife Amie Kolleh Sowe returned to The Gambia and gave birth at the RVH in May 1996. I now have three daughters and a boy. Some days, I rode my bicycle into the thick forest to orientate my self about the complex geography of Cassamance because I knew one day, I would need those skills to navigate the jungle. Sometimes, I would leave the bike at home and walk about 3 hours into dense interlocking forest just to master the rural routes. In a sense, I was in a private military bush-training operation. On Fridays I would ride the bike to Douloloug from where I encountered Jadama and later learnt that Lieutenants: Jarjue, Jammeh and Bah were registered as refugees in a Ziquinchor military camp. I managed to get in touch with them and Lt. Alieu Bah visited Douloloug while I was there. The reunion was memorable and sad especially, as Bah eloquently narrated the day Lieutenants Jarju, Jammeh and himself were arrested from Yundum, taken to Bakau Military Depot, stripped naked and lined up for execution. He explained how Sergeant Alhaji Kanyi was killing his former comrades like dogs as the Council members watched and how he was next in line when he suddenly took to his heels and the line of fire peppered at him and colleagues; interspersed with recitations from the Holy Quran (Allahu akbar) as they melted into the woods of Bakau Army Barracks; how good Samaritans gave them clothes that they wore and trekked the terrain into the Cassamance wilderness. Lieutenant Alieu Bah is a master storyteller and no one can listen to his powerful recapitulation of bloody November and remain the same; you must be shaken no matter what! From here on we were in touch.
In 1996, I visited Guinea Bissau to see if I can extend my business venture but after six months there, I returned to Katack determined to expand my business and then join any force to remove Jammeh from power so that we could restore democracy in The Gambia. In Ziguinchor, my colleagues were ever determined to kick the dictator out of office but after numerous attempts to steal riffles from the camp, they could not. Then on the fateful night of July 21, 1997 the three Lieutenants surprisingly visited me at my boutique. After a very warm welcome, I gave them food and proceeded to brew them the popular Chinese green tea (Ataya) but Lt. Bah objected. “Sir Jackal we have no time for Ataya today, we are on a very important mission” said a very jovial but equally temperamental Alieu Bah. I enquired what the matter was but Bah asked that Lt. L.F. Jammeh was the head of mission and that he alone could explain. L.F. Jammeh then called me aside and briefed me that they wanted to remove Jammeh before the July 22, 1997 anniversary (the revolution that brought the dictator to power) because the government had killed so many people. I asked why they came so late and the prompt notice, but L.F said “Sir Jackal we trust you and we know you have always been Eveready.” L.F was also very determined because his marabouts have according to him, cleared the way for the operation. I instantly closed the boutique and told my family that I was going with my friends on a quick mission- no one had a clue what we were up to. When we got to the riverbank there was no one but I had now mastered the area and knew how to paddle those canoes. I pulled one from ashore and we jumped aboard and in 20 minutes we were at the Gambian border.
On our way to Kartong we had agreed in principle that no soldier should be shot at unless if it happened accidentally; that no one should kill any government official; that the remaining Council members Yahya Jammeh, Edward Singhateh and Yankuba Touray must be arrested (Haidara was dead and Sabally was at Mile II) and the Council tried for crimes against humanity; that the Yundum mass graves must be exhumed and the victims be given a national burial; a timetable for constitutional rule announced; that none of us should be in a government but returned to barracks immediately giving the way to a highly respected Gambian that we knew was incorruptible and democratic. This was our agenda for The Gambia!
ECHO: Did you or your colleagues study the Kartong Barracks before the operation?
JOOF: No, we did not but were determined to remove Yahya Jammeh for purely patriotic reasons. We thought that was the only way we could bring a sense of closure to all those innocent soldiers executed and buried in mass graves at Yundum; some of them were buried alive. We wanted to see Yahya Jammeh and colleagues in a court of law to answer to the crimes they committed, serious crimes against humanity since coming to power on July 22, 1994.
ECHO: The Attack was a very risky business wasn’t it? You could have died especially, attacking a military barracks with no weapons, bare hands; did you calculate the magnitude of the risk or not?
JOOF: No person dies twice. We were ready for the ultimate price if that was what removing Yahya Jammeh from State House meant. So once we reached the military barracks we decided to walk in an extended line, Lt. Alieu Bah to my left, Jammeh and Jarju in the middle and I to the extreme right, we moved gently towards the sentry post where the armed military guard kept yelling HALT!! HALT!! HALT!! I told them let no one stop; that we must continue and that we did. No sooner had we reached him at his post than I pulled the muscle of his AK-47 riffle and Lt. Bah quickly seized it from him, the soldier screamed and ran for his life. I noticed that two of his colleagues with AK-47 riffles were sleeping in a bamboo platform waiting for the shift change. I told my colleagues that I was going to use both of my arms and fall on them and that once panicky; we should wrestle them to the ground and seize their weapons. So while Bah, Jarjue and Jammeh watched, I rose to my height and bounced on the two sleeping guards, held both by the collar of their military camouflage and told them that they must surrender their weapons. They screamed and a struggle ensued until we finally over powered them and seized their weapons. They began running and despite numerous calls for them to stop so we could work together to arrest Jammeh and his government of killers, the panic-stricken guards disappeared. Since we had three guns and we were four, we needed one more riffle and ammunition, we in fact, needed heavy weapons to dislodge the coward from State House and so we began a tactical move to shoot at the glass windows to further scare the soldiers. In a matter of minutes, the entire barracks was deserted and the police next door also fled their station. We now knew that no soldier was willing to die for Yahya Jammeh and as we searched the barracks, I luckily arrested one soldier, gave him a crowbar and asked him to break into the armory so we can get the required weaponry for State House. He wasted no time and in a matter of minutes, we were armed to our teeth with enough arms including RPG7s. Both Lt. Bah and I are Liberian war veterans and during our peacekeeping missions in that war torn country, we had had enough experience and damn well knew that with the RPG7s, we could reduce State House to dust and we were determined to do that if Jammeh resisted arrest. I was personally going to arrest Yahya Jamus Junkung Jammeh and take him to Mile II Prisons because the man is a criminal and like all criminals that should be his home.
Destination? State House; Target? Yahya Jammeh
If you were quite familiar with Kartong, you would recall that the last GPTC bus to ply to the village (called last bus) would stay until the following day to ferry the early morning commuters. We quickly headed to the GPTC Kartong bus terminus so we can drive it to Banjul. I forced the door and got into the driver’s seat, smashed the ignition with the crowbar but after multiple attempts to ignite the beast it failed. Given the weapons we had seized from the armory, I suggested to my colleagues that since the bus has failed, we should retreat and keep our weapons in the Cassamance forest before daybreak and plan a more tactical approach. However, Lieutenants Bah and Jammeh, two temperamental fellows insisted that we must remove Jammeh before daybreak; Gambians have had enough of him. It was at this stage that we decided to go to Lieutenant Lamin Jarju’s distant uncle, a Taxicab driver. We deceived the old man into believing that we were attacked at the army camp and needed a vehicle to Gunjur. He complained that he was short of gasoline but we promised to fuel his car once we get to Gunjur. Once we got to Gunjur, we headed to the clinic and seized their ambulance, Lt. Jarjue jumped behind the wheel and drove at brake neck speed and we headed for Yundum Barracks where Jammeh and his criminal government slew numerous of our comrades on November 11-12, 1994 but before we got to Brikama, they had called Banjul and reported the seizure of the village ambulance. Half way into the journey, I noticed a vehicle behind us and told my comrades that the headlights resembled those of a military vehicle, probably on patrol. At this stage Jarjue reduced speed to study the scene. Predictably, it was a military vehicle on patrol and the soldiers were looking for us. When Lt. Jarjue stopped the ambulance, the other driver stopped within two meters. Lt. Alieu Bah and I were the first to jump out of the ambulance and even before we found out what the soldiers wanted, they had begun firing. Lt. Alieu Bah was shot at in the leg. The private soldier that we had held hostage jumped from the back of the ambulance and ran for his life. For one hour, we were in battle with soldiers of The Gambia National Army and given our determination, experience and superior firepower, they probably ran out of ammunitions and fled the scene. Regrettably, one of them died on the spot, others were hurt but managed to leave the scene. Before they fled, they shot at the ambulance and flattened its tires. When the gun battled died down, we regrouped to take the ambulance but comrade Lt. Alieu Bah called me aloud “Sir Jackal!” I knew something was wrong and when I got to him, he said, “Sir Jackal I was shot in the leg.” I lifted Bah from the grass and put him on my back and then into the ambulance headed to Gunjur because we knew ... (To be continued). Part III Comes out Tuesday.
Editor’s Note: We apologize to our readers for the delay. In our drive not to misquote people, we usually transcribe our phone interviews and have the subject review the texts before we publish the material. As you may have known by now, Alhagie Cham Joof (a.k.a Sir Jackal) lives in Germany, the Echo is in Raleigh, North Carolina USA and we want to solidify the trust and confidence he had in us to grant us this exclusive interview.