Gambia Expels Nigerian Activist, Odinkalu

Dr. Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, human rights activist and vocal critic of the government of President Yahya Jammeh of Gambia, has been expelled from the Gambia.

The expulsion happened weekend and it was the climax of a two year crossfire between President Jammeh and Odinkalu.

In article, published in The Guardian on 1 October, 2009 the Nigerian activist called on African nations to get tough with Jammeh, following what he called Jammeh’s ‘bloodcurdling threat’ against human rights activists in his country.

Jammeh, on the eve of his departure for the 64th session of the UN General Assembly, said in Banjul, that he would kill human rights activists destabilising his country. ” I will kill anyone, who wants to destabilize this country. If you think that you can collaborate with so-called human rights defenders, and get away with it, you must be living in a dream world. I will kill you, and nothing will come out of it. We are not going to condone people posing as human rights defenders to the detriment of the country. If you are affiliated with any human rights group, be rest assured that your security and personal safety would not be guaranteed by my government. We are ready to kill saboteurs.”

Odinkalu who works for the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) was reportedly declared persona non grata by Gambia due to his criticisms of the Jammeh regime’s lack of respect for the rule law and the hostile media environment in the country.

Mr Odinkalu who is also a prominent member of the national executive of the Nigerian Bar Association was in the Gambia to attend the 30th anniversary of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights held on October 22 and 23, 2011 at Sheraton International Conference Centre, Brusubi, where he was expected to deliver a paper titled: Normative Gaps in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: A Synopsis Overview.

News of his expulsion from the Gambia has left participants of the two-day colloquium flabbergasted.

”He is neither a mercenary nor an armed man. So, I don’t know why he has been declared persona non grata by the Gambia government,” a member of the Nigerian civil society movement stated.

Reacting to Mr Odinkalu’s expulsion, Oluarewayu Surayu, head of the West African Bar Association Secretariat, described it as a declaration and that his organisation would deal with the issue accordingly.

“It is most unfortunate that the Gambia is taking its repressive tendency beyond its borders,” he said.

Additional reports by Jollof News, online