By Ousman Saidykhan
Police charged a man with Defamation and False Broadcasting last night after a complaint was made against him over a video he had made criticizing the quality of Jah Oil’s Tiger Cement as inferior to a certain cement coming from Senegal.
Alhagie Lowe, popularly known as Elijah Lowe, posted the video on Facebook reels expressing his “disappointment” in Tiger Cement, a cement produced by Jah Oil Company.
The Cyber Crime Unit in Banjul invited Mr. Lowe to the police, but he stopped at the Yundum police station after agreeing with the police that it would take him long to get to Banjul. He was held for hours before being told of his alleged crime.
“I was later charged for Defamation and False Broadcasting after hours requesting what I had done and who the complainant was,” he said.
Lowe has yet to be told who the complainant was. He bought the cement in Jambur for his “house building project.”
“The packaged bag is labeled to be of 42.5 R cement grade, which I believe isn’t what is in the content. Besides, the cement dries up quickly when not used, even if the bags are not opened and stored in good environmental conditions compared to the 32.5 R cement imported from Senegal,” Lowe told this medium.
He continued: “When mixed with sand or gravel, one has to minimize the quantity of sand before it cements very well. In other words, the cement imported from Senegal is of far better quality than the Tiger-labeled cement Jah Oil Cement Industry produces.”
Alhagie has been bailed, but he was asked to report to the police headquarters in Banjul on Thursday morning.
“It’s not genuine because I’m a consumer that feels dissatisfied in a product,” Lowe argues.
People have already begun showing solidarity with Alhagie Free Elijah Lowe and questioning the basis of his arrest.
“He has a right to express his displeasure with products and services in the Gambia, whether delivered by the government or private businesses. He should not be arrested nor charged for that by the police. If Jah Oil is dissatisfied, let them go to court,” said Madi Jobarteh.
The human rights activist has demanded that Lowe be released and the police officers who arrested him be held accountable for what he called “their abuse of power and violation of Elijah’s rights.”
“The Gambia police is not an agency of Jah Oil Company. The IGP must be held accountable for gross misconduct and abuse of power. How can we talk about security sector reforms, yet the police act on behalf of private companies to harangue cities like thugs?” said Jobarte.
The police PRO has been contacted; he said he was unaware of the matter at the time of this publication.
