DEEP inside the headquarters of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) of Gambia there is a dark and airless dungeon barely big enough for one person. Infested by mosquitoes and reeking of urine, the notorious bambadinka (crocodile hole) was dreaded by opponents of Yahya Jammeh, Gambia’s president from 1996 to 2017. Mr Jameh used the agency as his own secret police. The country’s spooks developed a reputation for kidnapping and torturing dissidents, often in the bambadinka.
After losing an election in December 2016, Mr Jammeh tried to hold onto power, but was pushed out a month later. (He now lives in exile in Equatorial Guinea.) Freed from his malign influence, the intelligence agency is trying to repair its image. For a start, it has renamed itself the State Intelligence Service. Some of its most notorious thugs have been arrested, some spooks have been fired and the rest are getting human-rights training.
Entering the old NIA building is still an...Continue reading
Source: Middle East and Africa http://ift.tt/2ANH6Tm
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