Gambia: three immigration officers missing after training in Italy

The Gambian Immigration Department (GID) announced on Monday the disappearance of three of its agents in Italy, where they were attending a two-week training program organized as part of a bilateral cooperation, according to an official statement released in Banjul. The three agents — Basirou L. Bojang, Lamin Drammeh, and Bambi Jah — were part of a group of twenty Gambian officers sent to the Italian Police Training Academy in Nettuno, a coastal city located about fifty kilometers south of Rome. The program focused on migration management, border security, and travel document checks.

According to the GID, the three agents left their residence before the training concluded. The institution labeled their departure as a “premeditated and planned action.” The other seventeen participants continued the program until its completion, according to available information at the time of publication.

The GID stated that it has provided the relevant Italian and European authorities with the personal data of the three agents — passport data, visas, and photographs — to aid in their location and possible expulsion. The institution specified that it would initiate the necessary procedures to obtain their repatriation and impose disciplinary sanctions.

Regular bilateral cooperation with Italy

The Nettuno academy is regularly used for police and migration capacity-building programs aimed at African countries. In September 2024, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) conducted a similar program there involving fifteen Ivorian officers, in partnership with the Italian Ministry of the Interior.

The GID also maintains several active bilateral partnerships in training. In January 2026, it hosted in Banjul a cohort of thirty officers trained in documentary fraud detection techniques, with support from the Dutch Ministry of Justice. In April and May 2026, a mobile team from the department traveled to Spain and Italy to facilitate biometric enrollment of Gambian passports among the diaspora.

The GID condemned the behavior of the three missing agents, stating that it undermines the country’s institutional image and “risks weakening” cooperation relations with Italy. The institution asserts that their actions do not reflect its values or the expected standards of professionalism from its agents.

A country facing persistent migration pressure

The Gambia, a country of 2.7 million inhabitants nestled within Senegal and bordered to the west by the Atlantic, is one of the main countries of origin for irregular migration to Europe in West Africa. The Atlantic route, via the Canary Islands, remains a major emigration corridor from the sub-region.

The incident comes amid a backdrop where Gambian authorities are intensifying their operations against smuggler networks. On April 4, 2026, border guards intercepted sixty-two irregular migrants at the Mandinaba checkpoint, including nationals from Mali, Ivory Coast, Senegal, and The Gambia. In January 2026, at least seven people died and dozens went missing after a boat capsized off the Gambian coast.

The GID did not specify in its statement when the agents left their training residence, nor how long their disappearance was known before the official publication. This information currently relies solely on the GID’s statement, without confirmation from an Italian or international source.