By Isatou Sarr
The stepfather of the late Omar Badjie on Wednesday gave a detailed account of the young man’s final hours during a coroner’s inquest at Brikama Magistrates’ Court.
Testifying before Principal Magistrate O. Mendy, Mr. Tumane Badjie said he first encountered police officers at the Mandinary Health Centre, where he sought to understand who had brought Omar to the facility. According to him, a senior officer informed him that Omar had been apprehended following a struggle over a suspected cannabis joint.
“He said during the push and pull, Omar’s phone fell, and when the officer bent to pick it up, Omar ran,” Mr. Badjie told the court. “They caught him sitting in the grass after chasing him over fences.”
Badjie described Omar as visibly dirty and weak when he arrived at the health center, contradicting police claims that he had merely fallen. He said he helped carry Omar into an ambulance for transfer to Kanifing General Hospital.
“While we were on the way, I felt him struggling to breathe. By the time we reached Tabakoto junction, he was no longer breathing,” he recounted, becoming emotional as he spoke.
Doctors at Kanifing General Hospital later confirmed Omar’s death. Badjie said he then notified family members and helped coordinate the transfer of the body to the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital in Banjul.
He told the court that the family was advised to wait for the police to determine the cause of death, with a postmortem subsequently conducted. He said Omar had no known medical conditions and that the family is still unaware of the definitive cause of death.
Badjie also mentioned individuals who allegedly witnessed the incident, including a man named Musa, who attempted to record the encounter, and a woman named Jula, who offered Omar water but later declined to provide a statement due to family pressure.
Responding to a question from Magistrate Mendy, Badjie said he later visited and photographed the area where Omar was apprehended.
The inquest continues on Monday, 1 December 2025, at 2:30 p.m.
The post Stepfather Describes Final Hours of Omar Badjie Before Dying in Police Custody appeared first on .
By Isatou Sarr The stepfather of the late Omar Badjie on Wednesday gave a detailed account of the young man’s…
The post Stepfather Describes Final Hours of Omar Badjie Before Dying in Police Custody appeared first on .
