Fugitive Jungler Sanna Manjang, the most-wanted enforcer of Yahya Jammeh’s brutal regime, has been formally handed over to Gambian authorities by Senegal, marking a pivotal moment in the country’s pursuit of transitional justice.
The transfer, completed early Tuesday morning at the border village between Gambia and Senegal under heavy security, follows Manjang’s dramatic pre-dawn arrest on November 29 in Senegal’s volatile Casamance region. Gambian officials confirmed the extradition in a brief statement, praising the “exemplary cooperation” between the two nations that thwarted an alleged coup plot linked to Jammeh loyalists.
Alkamba Times has obtained exclusive video footage of the handover, showing a heavily shackled Manjang – clad in a simple grey Haftan and flanked by armed Gambian soldiers – being escorted from a Senegalese military vehicle.
The grainy evening-vision clips, sourced from security personnel, capture his stoic expression as he descends from a Senegalese military truck, avoiding cameras. At the same time, handlers bark orders in Wolof and Mandinka. The 52-year-old, implicated in the 2004 assassination of AFP correspondent Deyda Hydara and the 2005 massacre of over 50 West African migrants, appeared gaunt but defiant.
“This is a testament to our unyielding commitment to accountability,” said a senior security official in Banjul. “Manjang will face the full weight of justice for the atrocities he orchestrated under the former regime.”
The arrest stemmed from intelligence revealing Manjang and four accomplices – including two Gambians and foreign mercenaries – were regrouping in Casamance to procure arms and stage an incursion aimed at restoring Jammeh, exiled in Equatorial Guinea since 2017. Recovered items included encrypted radios, assault rifles, and plot documents, per security sources.
Human rights advocates hailed the development. “Manjang’s testimony could bury Jammeh’s denials once and for all,” said Reed Brody of the International Commission of Jurists, echoing his earlier praise of the capture as a “significant step toward accountability.” Victims’ families, many enduring decades without closure on enforced disappearances, expressed cautious hope that Manjang “knows where the bodies are buried.”
Manjang is now in a military detention, awaiting arraignment on charges including treason, terrorism, murder, and crimes against humanity. Prosecutors plan to integrate TRRC evidence from his 2019 testimonies, where co-perpetrators named him in dozens of executions.
The handover intensifies pressure on Banjul to expedite Jammeh’s extradition and fully implement the TRRC’s 1,000-plus recommendations. As Gambia marks nine years since the dictator’s ouster, this arrest symbolizes a fragile democracy’s resolve against its dark past. Further details on the video and the accomplices’ status are expected soon.
