The Italian Mafia Who Trained the Junglers Death Squad

Omar Jallow 'Oya' takes the oath before testifying at the TRRC

By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT

The Truth Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) had some compelling and often times borderline unbelievable testimonies on the human rights violations which took place in The Gambia. One of them is on the origins of the Junglers also known as the Patrol Team or Black Black because of their dark clothing. This is the story of how an Italian Mafia started the first Jungler Training after double crossing an alleged coup plotter who wanted to take over the government of former President Jammeh.

Volume 8 of the TRRC Report focuses on the Junglers and Unlawful killings, tortures and other human rights violations. The TRRC is a defunct Commission which investigated the human rights violations that took place in The Gambia under the leadership of former President Jammeh from 1994 to January 2017. The Commission questioned at least eight Junglers, some of whom testified on live TV and gave gruesome accounts on the atrocities that occurred during their operations.

According to this report the Junglers was “a special group within the army without any legal basis for its operations --- [which] was loyal only to the President and carried out all his orders without question”.

The Junglers sole task was to repress anyone considered to be a critic or threat to former President Jammeh in order to entrench him in power. The mercenary group “carried out extra judicial killings, arbitrary arrests, detentions and torture on behalf of Yayha Jammeh with total disregard for the functions of the armed forces which is to defend the people and not oppress them”.

With this group of mercenaries’ fear was weaponised in The Gambia with the Junglers causing “widespread fear and anxiety in the hearts of Gambians” and thereby creating the “repressive environment” required “for dictatorship to become increasingly entrenched and perpetuated”.

An emboldened Jammeh went on the only television, Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS) “threatening to personally supervise the killing of anyone who destablised the country”.

The TRRC Report explains how “defending Jammeh at all cost and carrying out his orders irrespective of how wrong and unlawful they were was integral to the operational psyche of the Junglers. To them, defending Jammeh’s interest was defending the nation’s interest. Jammeh’s wishes became one and the same as the nation’s wishes as far as the Junglers were concerned”.

Started by an Italian Mafia

Reading like a James Bond movie the TRRC chronicles how one Italian Mafia by the name of Francisco Casio conducted the maiden training for “a small group of soldiers from the Gambian National Army”. Its believed that Francisco Casio who’s identity is still shrouded in mystery came to the Gambia as a tourist and double crossed one Almamo Manneh “who sought his assistance to plan a coup against Jammeh in 2000”. Unfortunately, Almamo was betrayed and reported to the National Intelligence Agency by Francisco Casio who took the “opportunity to portray himself as a competent and highly skilled military officer to entice the NIA”.

According to the TRRC “Almamo Manneh was a member of the State Guards. Sometime in the year 2000, Almamo was suspected of planning to overthrow Yahya Jammeh together with Lt. Landing Sanneh. He was lured to Bund Road by Ousman Sonko and other members of the GNA and killed under the orders of Yahya Jammeh”.

With his betrayal of Almamo Manneh and depicting himself as a specialist, Francisco Casio was “eventually hired to train a specialised group of soldiers” after “he was brought to the President and recommended by Abdoulie Kujabi, NIA Director General at the time”. The TRRC highlights that “the specialised training became known as the “Jungler training” which entailed counter terrorism and VIP security. During the training, live ammunition was used and the soldiers were equipped with skills to kill. The criteria for selection of soldiers to the Jungler training largely depended on presupposed and perceived loyalty to President Jammeh. About fifteen (15 soldiers participated in the first training course”.

According to Ismaila Jammeh’s testimony “the first group of soldiers that participated in this training [in 2000] were Famara Camara, Alieu Bojang, Lamin Senghore (Assassin), Bubacarr Bojang, Momodou Lamin Tamba, Paul Bojang, Ousman Sanneh, Famara Sanneh (Zircon), Wally Nyang and Ismaila Jammeh”.

Ismaiala Jammeh was a member of the GNA and the State Guards. He was a former orderly of former President Jammeh.

After this in 2002 another group of mercenaries known as the Commandos who are from the State Guards were trained by the Libyan military this included the infamous Sanna Manjang and 14 others. Subsequent Commando trainings from the first cohort also took place which another nine soldiers benefitted from.

The TRRC revealed that “the Patrol Team started as a small unit in Kanilai commanded by Tumbul Tamba and his deputy Solo Bojang. Sanna Manjang, Malick Jatta and Alieu Jeng were members. Musa Jammeh was one of the commanders attached to the Bodyguard Unit at the State House. During that time, there were clusters of patrol teams. Tumbul Tamba was reporting directly to President Jammeh, the commander in chief”.

According to Ismaila Jammeh’s testimony in 2004 he organised soldiers for the second Jungler training where a total of 30 soldiers participated in. This included “Saul Badjie, Bai Lowe, Dembo Jatta, Sambou Barrow, Buba Darboe, Solo Bojang, Omar Jallow (Oya), Lamin Sillah, Umpa Mendy, Muhammad Sambou, Barra Mboob, Ebrima Njie, Buba Darboe and the late Solomon Jammeh”.

Omar Jallow testified on the brutality of Francisco Casio who praised the team after they killed unarmed civilians who refused to stop their vehicles when ordered to stop by the Junglers. In at least two occasions Francisco Casio praised the Junglers for a good job. According to Omar Jallow (Oya) “during their training, an incident occurred in the bush. The patrol team spotted individuals carrying cannabis on a bicycle. They were asked to stop but they refused. The team then opened fire at them and one of them died on the spot”.

Another gruesome incident was also revealed by Omar Jallow who says that during training while they were “along Seliti highway. The patrol team stopped a vehicle but the driver refused to stop, so they fired at the vehicle killing two occupants”. On both instances “no Jungler was arrested for these killings and there was no investigation into the circumstances of the incident and Francisco was very happy because he enjoyed killing”.

The TRRC Report details how “Junglers were absolved from any form of legal responsibilities for any killings or any form of human rights violations they committed. From their training, these soldiers developed a mindset that they should obey and carry out all orders that were given to them by their commanders regardless of whether such orders were lawful or not”.

Sanna Manjang and Solo Bojang were the most feared Junglers. They were known for their brutality and gruesome manner of killing their victims. Bodies of victims were disposed of in locations identified by Sanna Manjang and Solo Bojang, who were generally regarded as the most notorious Junglers familiar with the terrain of thick forests and bushes in the Fonis and villages along the northern Casamance border. The disposal sites were carefully chosen. Sometimes the bodies were disposed of in farms owned and controlled by Yahya Jammeh and at other times in old wells along the border in Cassamance, Senegal.

Inside the Mentality of the Junglers