Chief Superintendent Hatab Bojang of The Gambia Immigration Department (GID) has not been sent on administrative leave, contrary to the fake news peddled on social media by one Bakary Trawally, a supporter of the main opposition United Democratic Party, Freedom Newspaper can report. Trawally, who earned his social media fame through the circulation of hate speech, tribal bigotry, and lies, has claimed that Superintendent Bojang was suspended because President Barrow’s wasn’t pleased with his work at the Banjul international airport. The UDP fanatic went on to claim that Bojang’s suspension followed what he called “his processing of nine Sierra Leonean criminals” who entered the country with questionable intent. He alleged that officer Bojang even insulted President Barrow while talking to the President on the phone.

In a bid to verify the veracity of Trawally’s claims, we contacted a top official of The Immigration Department, who told us that there was no iota of truth in the social media fake news.

“Thanks Pa for seeking clarification, again I appreciate your professionalism. Chief Superintendent Hatab Bojang is working and was never sent on any administrative leave, you may wish to verify further,” the GID official told me.

This is not the first time that supporters of the main opposition UDP have been trafficking fake news on social media. Their leader Ousainou Darboe was today called out by the Government Spokesman Ebrima G Sankareh for peddling fake news. This followed Darboe’s claims accusing President Barrow of refusing to disclose a Nigerian government crude oil deal that was extended to The Gambia.

“The allegation that has been amplified by opposition elements and a section of the news media with reporting styles anathema to all ethical standards of journalism, is fatally false, malicious and without scintilla of truth. In actuality, negotiations for The Gambia Government to resume benefiting from Nigerian crude oil began in June 2018 while Ousainou Darboe was Foreign Minister and later, Vice President. The Nigerian government granted approval in June, 2019 barely months after Mr. Darboe’s exit from corridors of power,” Sankareh remarked.

Sankareh says it was this past September that the government reviewed Nigeria’s crude oil offer, but he says the government later decided to disregard the program, while citing costs issues involved in such oil lifting.

“Following exhaustive evaluation, cabinet concluded that while the opportunity represented goodwill and generosity on the Nigerian Government, it was costly.  Cabinet therefore quashed the entire program and not a single barrel of crude oil was ever lifted either directly or indirectly by the Barrow government,” he said.

“President Barrow therefore, finds it puzzling that a malicious story premised on falsehood and cheap political propaganda is what some politicians and their media apologists use to caricature and allege corruption and lack of transparency in his government,’ he added.