How Sanna Manjang, Gambia’s Most Wanted Soldier Got Arrested

By Assan Sallah.

In the early hours of Friday, Gambian and Senegalese joint military intelligence force raided a makeshift compound in the sleepy border village of Bassen, Casamance, arresting former Gambian military officer accused of being a part of a paramilitary squad responsible for killing adversaries of the ex-dictator Yahya Jammeh.

Lt. Col. Sanna Manjang, a member of the Jungular team left The Gambia in December 2016 when it was apparent that Jammeh had lost elections and West African forces would be marching into the country to ensure Jammeh steps aside.

Manjang was arrested alongside three others at a discreet location in a small forest, where they were operating an illegal charcoal and bakery facility.

Neither The Gambia nor Senegal’s militaries and governments have released the name of the other three people arrested alongside Manjang. Their identities remain unknown.

“They were engaged in charcoal processing and at the same time operating a bakery for survival since timber logging has been banned,” a source said. “Sanna Manjang is a fugitive and has been on the run since the change of government”.

The joint Gambia-Senegalese team surrounded Manjang’s location before barging in taking them by surprise. No gun fires were reported. However, there were scuffles leading to one of the captured men being injured in the face. Some attempted to escape and resist arrest but were quickly contained.

Since Jammeh’s first announcement that he would be returning to The Gambia, authorities in Banjul quietly doubled their effort to locate and capture military loyalists of the ex-strongman considered to be a sleeper cell. The Gambia has since increased joint operations and intelligence sharing with Senegal.

Senegalese Intelligence had hinted The Gambia with Manjang’s presence in Casamance after it emerged the wanted Jungular operative had left his safe haven in Bissau and moved to its southern region following the arrest and detention of Omar Sanneh, known by his alias Baitulla.

A joint Gambian and Senegalese military intelligence team conducted reconnaissance surveillance confirming Manjang’s identity, location and daily routine leading to successful dawn raid that resulted to the capture of the man considered to be the most wanted Jungular.

Manjang was in Bissau alongside the late Major Bora Colley, Nuha Badjie and others. Major Colley voluntarily returned to The Gambia, turning himself in to military authorities after facing health complications in Bissau. Colley was detained by the military pending the conclusion of investigations into allegations of human rights abuses. He died in detention due to his complications in March 2025.

It remains unclear what prompted Manjang’s move from Bissau to its border with Senegal.

Manjang’s fellow Jungular, Michael Correa was sentenced to 67 years in prison in the United States for his participations in torture and killings of people under Jammeh’s rule. Correa’s actions included burning victims’ flesh with molten plastic and subjecting them to repeated, vicious beatings over the course of weeks using a variety of weapons, where he conspired with fellow Jungulars, including Lt. Col. Sanna Manjang.

A Court in The Gambia’s capital Banjul issued an arrest warrant for Manjang in March following a request by the Interpol and the National Central Bureau of Washington, United States for his alleged involvement in extra-judicial killings as exposed by victims at the country’s Truth Commission.

In a statement on Saturday, The Gambia’s government thanked the Senegalese authorities and its military for its cooperation and collaboration in the operations to capture and extradite Manjang to face justice.

Following the signing of an Agreement on Defence and Security Cooperation between The Gambia and Senegal on 4th March 2017 in Dakar, Senegal, the two countries also have a Defence and Security Cooperation in place since 2024, through which the armed forces of The Gambia and Senegal established a Joint Military Committee comprising senior officers and commanders to ensure the safety and security of citizens of the two countries along its shared porous borders, especially in the Foni and Casamance region, where Jammeh still enjoys a lot of support and accused of backing separatist rebels in southern Senegal.