Reports have it that on Saturday, 22nd of March, 2025, residents of the village of Ballanghar witnessed a tragedy when armed robbers attacked two shops in an attempt to make away with an unquantified amount of money. The two shops, one said to belong to a Mauritanian national and another a native, were attacked just after the breaking of fast in Ramadan.
However, it is reported that the villagers did not take it lying down as they rose and fought off the robbers with one of the robbers being shot and killed in the event. Another said to have been shot in the leg was later apprehended and handed over to the police.
According to reports, it seems that the third one is still yet to be found and a massive manhunt is underway to apprehend him. The nationality of all of them is not clear from the reports but at least one of them is said to be a Senegalese. This couldn’t have come at a worse time than a time when Muslims are preparing to celebrate the Eid-ul-Fitr to mark the end of Ramadan.
It is becoming increasingly worrying that people are brazen enough to launch armed robbery attacks during the day with no worry about the consequences of their actions. Not long ago, it was reported that armed robbers attacked a bank at Turntable and a few weeks later a shop in the middle of Banjul was also attacked.
It could be recalled that last year a similar incident occurred in Fass Njagga Choi in Lower Niumi District when a PIU officer was shot in the leg. There was another incident in Farafenni and now this one in Ballanghar. What this indicates is that the country seems to be edging towards lawlessness and that people can do whatever they want unchecked.
There is a need to set up a taskforce to seriously look into the security issues and come up with plans to mitigate this evil trend. Once it has started to result in loss of lives, it has reached a stage where at all efforts should be done to tackle the situation.
Citizens need to feel safe in their own country!
