Gambia Authorities Shut Teranga FM Radio Station

BANJUL, Gambia, Jan 2, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 02nd Jan, 2017 ) - Popular independent Gambian radio station Teranga FM was Sunday ordered to cease operations by national security agents for unspecified reasons, a security source and staff member said.

The station, which translates news from Gambian papers into local languages, has previously been silenced and in 2015 its manager was slapped with sedition and "publication of false news" charges for privately sharing a provocative photo of President Yahya Jammeh.

"Four National Intelligence Agency operatives and one police officer in uniform came to the radio station this afternoon (Sunday) around 2:30 pm and told us to stop broadcasting," a staff member told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"They said they have been ordered by the director general of NIA, Yankuba Badjie, to tell us to stop broadcasting with immediate effect. We asked them the reason for their action, but they said they are only acting on executive orders and do not know the reason why the radio should stop broadcasting," he added.

A security source said no one had been arrested but could not say why the radio station was ordered off the air. "We only asked them to stop broadcasting and they cooperated with us. They have stopped broadcasting since in the afternoon," the source told AFP.