Nabanko Newspaper

06/12/2025

POLICE ARREST SUSPECT IN ALLEGED MURDER OF A WOMAN IN BRIKAMA MISIRA

The Police have, on Saturday, December 6, 2025, arrested a suspect in connection with the alleged murder of Fatou Sambou, a 40-year-old resident of Kembujeh Madina, who was on December 2, found lying on her groundnut farm behind the Brikama Power Station with injuries to her head and hand.

Crime Scene Investigators responded to the scene and evacuated the victim to Brikama District Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Her remains were later transferred to the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital (EFSTH) for post-mortem examination.

Robust Police efforts, combined with timely support and cooperation from critical stakeholder institutions, enabled investigators to track and trace the victim’s stolen mobile phone, which provided a decisive lead in identifying the suspect.

This led to the arrest of Sulayman Saidykhan, a 26-year-old native of Bakary Sambouya, an ex-soldier with a previous criminal conviction. He was found in possession of the deceased’s mobile phone.

The suspect has been cautioned, charged, and detained, while investigations remain active to establish the full circumstances surrounding the incident.

The Gambia Police Force acknowledges the support of all stakeholders whose cooperation contributed to the swift arrest of the suspect and reassures the public of a thorough, impartial, and professional investigation to ensure justice is served.

03/12/2025

PRESIDENT TINUBU NOMINATES GENERAL CHRISTOPHER MUSA AS THE NEW MINISTER OF DEFENCE

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has nominated General Christopher Gwabin Musa as the new Minister of Defence.

A statement by Special Adviser to the President,
Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga indicates that in a letter to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, President Tinubu conveyed General Musa’s nomination as the successor to Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, who resigned on Monday.

General Musa, 58, on December 25, is a distinguished soldier who served as Chief of Defence Staff from 2023 until October 2025. He won the Colin Powell Award for Soldiering in 2012.

Born in Sokoto in 1967, General Musa received his primary and secondary education there before attending the College of Advanced Studies in Zaria. He graduated in 1986 and enrolled at the Nigerian Defence Academy the same year, earning a Bachelor of Science degree upon graduation in 1991.

General Musa was commissioned into the Nigerian Army as a Second Lieutenant in 1991 and has since had a distinguished career. His appointments include General Staff Officer 1, Training/Operations at HQ 81 Division; Commanding Officer, 73 Battalion; Assistant Director, Operational Requirements, Department of Army Policy and Plans; and Infantry Representative/Member, Training Team, HQ Nigerian Army Armour Corps.

In 2019, he served as Deputy Chief of Staff, Training/Operations, Headquarters Infantry Centre and Corps; Commander, Sector 3, Operation Lafiya Dole; and Commander, Sector 3 Multinational Joint Task Force in the Lake Chad Region.

In 2021, General Musa was appointed Theatre Commander, Operation Hadin Kai. He later became Commander of the Nigerian Army Infantry Corps before being appointed Chief of Defence Staff by President Tinubu in 2023.

In the letter to the Senate, President Tinubu expressed confidence in General Musa’s ability to lead the Ministry of Defence and further strengthen Nigeria’s security architecture.

01/12/2025

The Gambia Police Force is investigating two separate incidents in the Lower River Region and the West Coast Region.

In Soma, 17-year-old painter Abdoukadri Barry was reportedly electrocuted while working on a storey building and was confirmed dead at the Soma District Hospital.

In Mandinaba, police are investigating an alleged murder involving Mustapha Jallow of Kafuta, who reportedly stabbed Bakary Bah during a fight. The victim later died at a health facility. The suspect and the alleged weapon are in custody, with CSI and CID officers on the scene.

The public is urged to remain calm and cooperate as investigations continue.

27/11/2025

27/11/2025

ECOWAS OFFICIALLY LAUNCHES THE EGDC DIGITAL ECOSYSTEM IN SALY-PORTUDAL, SENEGAL

On the 24th of November 2025, ECOWAS, through the EGDC and under the leadership of Commissioner Prof. Fatou SOW SARR, officially launched its new digital ecosystem in Saly-Portudal, Senegal. This set of tools—including a website, a gender observatory, a virtual workspace, an AI system, and a security command center—aims to modernize gender policies in West Africa.

It will improve the visibility of actions, real-time data collection and analysis, and regional coordination. The Commissioner praised the importance of this tool, which will provide an overview of the CCDG's achievements and facilitate decision-making.

27/11/2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: November 26, 2025

UDP Statement on 2025 Government Groundnut Price & the Plight of Gambian Farmers

The UDP moves to draw urgent national attention to the plight faced by our hardworking groundnut farmers, following the 2025 announcement by the Ministry of Agriculture/National Food Security, Processing and Marketing Corporation (NFSPMC) that the Government will again purchase groundnuts from farmers at D 38,000 per metric ton for the third consecutive year in which the price remains unchanged. This was confirmed in the Ministry’s latest report to the National Assembly.

While the Ministry frames D 38,000 as a “farm-gate price,” the reality on the ground is that many farmers have no alternative buyers. Private buyers and traders are effectively blocked from offering competitive prices, and exports are tightly controlled, leaving our farmers with no choice but to accept the same low price year after year.

We call on the Government to acknowledge that pe***ng the groundnut price at D 38,000 for three years running, in the face of rising costs of inputs and inflation, amounts to a denial of fair value for Gambian farmers’ labour and produce.

At the same time this government has turned a blind eye to our farmers, it has splurged public funds on lavish and politically-oriented flaunting, especially the annual Meet the People Tour under the leadership of Adama Barrow. Independent budget watchdogs have documented that between 2020 and 2024, although only D 58 million was approved for the Tour, the actual spending exceeded D 226 million, meaning an overspend of nearly D 168 million.

If the Government can waste hundreds of millions of Dalasi on political theatre, repeatedly, why can it not fairly remunerate the backbone of our rural economy, the groundnut farmers?

This discrepancy shows clearly where the Barrow Administration’s priorities lie, which is political showmanship rather than the economic welfare of ordinary Gambians.

If elected, the UDP will reverse this neglect. Under a UDP government, we commit to:
• Reform groundnut pricing policy, ensuring farmgate price reflects real market realities, cost of living, and cost of production. We will set up a transparent, consultative system where farmers, cooperatives, exporters and the Ministry jointly agree on a fair price each season.
• Open the groundnut sector to competition, allow licensed private buyers and exporters to purchase directly from farmers at competitive prices, preventing monopoly purchase by state-run NFSPMC.
• Support agricultural productivity, invest in improved seeds, fertilisers, irrigation, training, and mechanisation so that farmers’ yields, and incomes, increase over time.
• Ensure financial transparency, redirect wasted funds from extravagant tours to meaningful investments. Subsidies for farmers, infrastructure, storage facilities, and export-ready processing units.
• Empower cooperatives and rural supply chains, ensure cooperatives and local “seccos” (seed-collection centres) are strengthened, properly financed, and integrated with local markets and export opportunities.

We believe that by putting farmers first, not political theatre, we can restore dignity, livelihood, and hope to those who feed the nation.

The continued pe***ng of groundnut price at D 38,000 per metric ton for three years in a row, while the Government squanders public funds on political expeditions is a grave injustice. The Barrow Administration has shown time and again that it has no regard for the plight of our farmers.

The UDP offers a different path, one of fairness, dignity, progress, and real support for rural Gambians. We stand with every farmer who plants groundnuts, and we say enough is enough. It is time for a government that values your sweat, your soil, and your future.

Issued by, UDP Media & Communications Team

27/11/2025

General Horta N' Tam sworn in as the new Head of State of Guinea Bissau. He will lead a transitional government for one year before elections are held.

26/11/2025

JOINT STATEMENT BY THE HEAD OF ELECTORAL MISSION OF ECOWAS, THE HEAD OF ELECTORAL MISSION OF AFRICAN UNION AND THE WEST AFRICAN ELDERS FORUM ON THE POST-ELECTION SITUATION IN THE REPUBLIC OF GUINEA-BISSAU.

23/11/2025

Statement from the UDP Media & Communications Team

On the Government’s Lack of Transparency Regarding the Issa Tchiroma Bakary Affair

The United Democratic Party (UDP) notes with deep concern the Government of The Gambia’s press release dated Sunday, 23rd November 2025, regarding the quiet arrival and hosting of Cameroonian opposition figure Mr. Issa Tchiroma Bakary on Gambian soil.

While The Gambia has a proud tradition of offering sanctuary on humanitarian grounds, the manner in which this matter has been handled raises serious questions about transparency, accountability, and respect for the Gambian people’s right to know what actions are taken in their name.

According to the government’s own statement, Mr. Bakary arrived in The Gambia on 7th November 2025, yet the public is only being informed more than two weeks later, and only after widespread speculation. Such silence on an issue of significant diplomatic and security importance is unacceptable.

Fully cognizant of how despotism operates and how dissenters are treated in such systems, the UDP stands in full solidarity with His Excellency Mr. Issa Tchiroma Bakary. We are proud that he can find safe sanctuary in The Gambia for himself and his immediate family. Our position on this humanitarian gesture is unequivocal. However, solidarity must not be used as a justification for secrecy or the erosion of democratic accountability.

We therefore call on the Government of The Gambia to:
• Provide a full and transparent briefing to the National Assembly and the Gambian people on the circumstances surrounding Mr. Bakary’s arrival;
• Clarify the nature and duration of his stay, the security arrangements in place, and any commitments made to external states;
• Commit to proactive disclosure in all matters affecting national security, diplomacy, and public interest.

The Gambian people deserve governance rooted in honesty, openness, and respect, not selective information issued only when convenient.

Issued by, UDP Media & Communications Team

23/11/2025

My fellow Nigerians,

You will recall that I cancelled my trip to the G20 summit in South Africa to enable me coordinate the security efforts at home.

Thanks to the efforts of our security forces over the last few days, all the 38 worshippers abducted in Eruku, Kwara State have been rescued.

I am equally happy that 51 out of the missing students of the Catholic School in Niger State, have been recovered.

I am closely monitoring the security situation nationwide and receiving continuous updates from the frontline.

Let me be clear: I will not relent. Every Nigerian, in every state, has the right to safety — and under my watch, we will secure this nation and protect our people.

~ Bola Ahmed Tinubu
President & Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces
Federal Republic of Nigeria

23/11/2025

JAMMEH NOT COMING EVEN IN NEXT NOVEMBER.

Demba Sabally Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Security has announced to the people of Foni that ex president Yahya Jammeh is neither setting foot in to the country this month and nor in the November coming. They are just buying your thinking especially those selling Ashobis. Those were the ones making money by telling you that Jammeh is coming and this is the outfit for his homecoming. A money which should be used for other household chorus but you used it in anticipation for a ceremony that will never occur, Sabally said at a meeting during the ongoing meet the people's tour spearheaded by the president. Last week you went to Kanilai for a cleaning exercise in preparation for Jammeh 's return. You made lots of remarks and insults there, but am advising my people not to respond to their insults. What am telling you is that you are just wasting your time and energy. Jammeh is not coming here this November and not in the November coming.

The joint meeting of the three constituencies of Jarrol, Bondali and Kansala was held in Sabally 's hometown of Bondali. He reminded his people of the past atrocities of the former government, an example he cited was the ex*****on of Dawda Nyassi, a neighbor of mine in Bondali.Minister Sabally called on the people of Foni to embrace the development efforts of the president and his government in which Foni was not left behind. Minister Sabally made a rundown of development initiatives including the construction of roads, modernizing health facilities and building of schools among others.

The Deputy Governor of West Coast Region and former Minister of Local government under Yahya Jammeh, Musa Amul Nyassi warned the Alkalos and District Chiefs to always be aligned with the government of the day. If anyone of you don't want to dance to the tone, resign and that's simple. Since the first republic which government has provided allowances to Alkalos apart from President Adama Barrow he asked?

President Adama Barrow on his part question the people of Foni why they are not rallying behind him. Foni, according to him is known for supporting the incumbent. They supported Jawara until he was overthrown, come Jammeh, supported Jammeh and Jammeh 's time has passed. Then come me, why are you not supporting me? You want to tell me Jammeh is your relative? President Barrow informed them that he didn't discriminate his development agenda despite whether you voted for me or not . What Basse is benefitting is what Foni too is benefitting while optimistic that he would be victorious in all five constituencies come 2026. Yes I won three constituencies in 2021 but am optimistic that I would swept all Fonis in 2026.

23/11/2025