NIA beat gatekeeper, ransack Fatou Touray’s house as she escapes from Gambia

Fatou Touray

Agents of the lethal National Intelligence Agency (NIA) on Thursday, December 05, 2013, reported stormed and ransacked the house of Fatou Touray, a socialite who hosted a television show on Gambian television, while at the same time serving as marketing manager of Gambia’s Telecommunications Company (Gamtel).

An ASN source in The Gambia reported that, ever since the media broke a story on Fatou’s escape following tip-off of an imminent arrest, the NIA has mounted surveillance on her home. Occasionally, two officers would come to the house and ask about her or try to coarse information from the residents in the home. According to reports, the latest visit of the NIA agents to the journalist’s house was pretty brutal as the gatekeeper (watchman) who insisted on knowing what they were doing there was attacked, beaten and pushed to the ground. They then proceeded, forced their way in the house, and searched it.
It could be recalled that Fatou Touray was arrested on two different occasions in the month of September while her colleague, another TV talk show host, Fatou Camara was being detained. Both of them were confronted with accusations of secretly being news reporters for foreign-based news media, and passing information that is damaging to the regime. While at the NIA, she was threatened and asked to give a statement to implicate her colleague which she refused to do. Finally, when Camara was released and fled the country, Fatou Touray received a tip-off that there were plans to imminently arrest her because the NIA suspected she might have been involved in facilitating Camara’s escape.
Not much has been heard from Fatou Touray since her escape from The Gambia a few weeks ago. Her whereabouts and safety are not known.

Source ASN