The 2014 Gambian coup d'état attempt broke out during the night of 30 December 2014, when gunfire erupted in the Gambian capital of

Banjul Banjul (, (US) and ), officially the City of Banjul, is the capital city of The Gambia. It is the centre of the eponymous administrative division which is home to an estimated 400,000 residents, making it The Gambia's largest and most densely ...

Background

At the time of the coup attempt President

Yahya Jammeh Yahya Abdul-Aziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh (born 25 May 1965) is a Gambian politician and former soldier, who served as President of the Gambia from 1996 to 2017. He was the Chairman of the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) from 1994 ...

was out of the country, with sources differing on whether he was in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

. Jammeh, who himself came to power in the 1994 Gambian coup d'état, had experienced several attempted coups against his regime, and sometimes accused the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and the

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of being behind said attempts. Previously in November 2014, Jammeh condemned the

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for its response to increasingly harsh anti-LGBT discrimination under his government. The following month those same measures caused the United States to drop The Gambia from one of its trade programmes.

Planning

In 2013, President Jammeh removed the commander of his Presidential Guard, Lieutenant Colonel Lamin Sanneh. Sanneh then fled to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

where he met fellow refugee from the Gambia and former officer of the Kentucky National Guard Njaga Jagne. Sanneh, Jagne, and a few others soon conceived a plot to overthrow President Jammeh. Jagne convinced Cherno Nije, a Texan entrepreneur also from the Gambia, to help fund the project. Jagne also recruited Papa Faal, Alhagie Boye, other Gambians, and veterans of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

, as well as several Gambians living in

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. Banka Manneh, another Gambian refugee who was Sanneh's friend, claimed he would be able to gather a force of 160 soldiers from inside The Gambia to assist in the coup.

Events

On December 30, 2014, the gunmen recruited by the plotters attacked the State House of the Gambia, the official presidential residence. Local media quickly identified them as having entered the country from neighbouring

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

under the command of Lt Col. Lamin Sanneh. The gunmen engaged in heavy fire with government forces. Soldiers blocked several points of entry to the city and a full blackout of the state radio and television was placed into effect. The fighting diminished later during the day. Banks and other businesses remained closed while state radio played traditional music, mentioning nothing of the night's events. Four people, including Sanneh and Njaga Jagne, were killed, and several more were injured. With the gunmen failing to consolidate control, the coup failed. Jammeh returned to Gambia the following day. Jammeh reshuffled his cabinet on January 10.

Aftermath

After the coup failed, Papa Faal, one of the co-conspirators, entered the United States embassy in

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seeking protection. However, he was instead interrogated. On January 1, 2015, the United States

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raided homes in

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, and

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as part of an investigation into the coup. That same weekend, the FBI also raided the offices of a Texas development firm. The owner of the Texas firm, Cherno Nije, was arrested at Washington Dulles International Airport and charged with violating the successor statute to the Neutrality Act of 1794. During the raid on Nije's home in Texas, the FBI found a manifesto entitled "Gambia Reborn: A Charter for Transition from Dictatorship to Democracy and Development," as well as a spreadsheet detailing the coup attempt's $221,000 budget funded by Nije, who was a millionaire. Faal was also charged and later pleaded guilty. Two others, Alagie Barrow of

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

and Banka Manneh of Georgia, were also charged. Both later pleaded guilty as well. Nije was sentenced to one year and one day in prison, Barrow and Manneh each received six-month sentences, while Faal was sentenced to time served. ''

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'' later revealed that the FBI had interviewed Sanneh at his home in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

and thereafter tipped off Senegalese officials about the plot through the

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

. It was reported on 2 April 2017 that the corpses of three alleged conspirators, Lamin Sanneh, Alagie Nyass and Njaga Jagne were discovered by Gambian police after the fall of the Jammeh regime.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2014 Gambian coup d'etat attempt

Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

Attempted coups d'état in the Gambia Gambian coup d'état attempt Politics of the Gambia Coup d'état attempt Gambian coup d'état attempt

Background

Planning

Events

Aftermath

See also

References