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The Gambian High Commission  at the weekend refuted  claims by the Amnesty International that 10 Nigerians and several other   nationals of some African countries were still missing in the Republic of Gambia.
This was a response to the Amnesty International report revealing gross human rights violation by the government of Gambia.

The report claimed that more than 50 foreigners, including 44 Ghanaians and about 10 Nigerians were intercepted by the Gambian security forces in the waters off Gambia on  July  23, 2005 while on their way to Europe.
The victims were said to have been brutally murdered afterwards on the pretence that they were coup plotters planning to overthrow the government of President Yahya Jammeh. The government alleged that they were suspected of being on their way to Gambia to overthrow the government during Gambia's independence day celebrations.

However, the Gambian High Commission denied such claims as mere fabrication and unfounded. It rather blamed it on the works of mischief makers who are hell bent on tarnishing the good bilateral relationship existing between the country and Nigeria.
The government of the Republic of Gambia has been dumfounded by these reports and wishes to express its utter dismay at the malicious fabrications and false accusations they contain.

It is clear that the perpetrators of this smear campaign have hidden and sinister motives. Besides wishing to tarnish the image of the Gambia and undermine the excellent bilateral ties that exist between the Gambia and the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the authors of the report are bent on sowing a seed of discord in the West African sub-region, it stated.

The High Commission noted that, The mandate of the Nigerian High Commission to the Gambia includes protecting Nigerian nationals and Nigerias interest in the Gambia. The Nigerian High Commissioners that have served in The Gambia over the years are not only seasoned diplomats; they have also been exemplary representatives of Nigeria. It is therefore inconceivable that 10 Nigerian nationals could have been killed in The Gambia without the Nigerian High Commissioner and other Nigerian diplomats knowing and reporting the matter to the Nigerian Government or taking it up with the Gambian authorities.
The Gambian position, however, ran contrary to the claims by  the Amnesty International and other human rights groups which claimed that the government of Gambia under the leadership of President Jammeh had imposed a reign of terror on both her citizens and other nationals whom they perceive to be opposed to its rule.
The report titled Gambia: Fear Rules which was released on November 11, 2008, painted a horrifying picture of unlawful arrest and detention, torture and disappearance of both nationals and foreigners. It revealed dramatic deterioration in the human rights violations including unlawful arrests, unlawful detentions, torture while in detention, enforced disappearance, extrajudicial executions and unfair trials followed series of alleged coup attempts which has characterised the regime of President Yahya Jammeh.

The Gambian High Commission further stressed that the Nigerian community in the Gambia is several thousands strong and enjoys several privileges, including exemption from alien registration fees that other foreign nationals are required to pay. The leaders of the community work closely with the government of the Gambia in order to promote their communitys interest and safeguard the welfare of every Nigerian citizen. No Nigerian can therefore be scratched, let alone killed, without the community being aware and taking it up with the Gambian authorities or the Nigerian High Commission in The Gambia.