Senegal’s President, Maitre Abdoulaye Wade, has on Tuesday promised to give Cfa 50 millions to any person who provides information leading to the arrest of those who murdered Oumar Lamine Badji, President of Ziguinchor Regional Council.

Wade also said a passport, a visa and an air ticket would be provided to enable the denouncer find a safer haven.

Oumar Lamine Badji, a close friend to President Wade and founding member of Senegal’s ruling PDS Party, was murdered on Tobaski eve, in his native village of Sindian, situated at 50km North from Ziguinchor by armed men who claimed to be operatives of the Casamance MFDC rebel movement.

“They came out from the bush and asked to meet Oumar Lamine Badji,” said a witness, who narrated that a bitter argument ensued between the armed men and Oumar who was then dragged to his courtyard where he was murdered in the presence of his family. The murderers then burnt his house and his car before they vanished away.

President Wade who attended the funeral service at Sindian said the authors of his friend’s ignominious death could come from the radical wing of the MFDC.

He however added that political motives are not excluded as reasons for the assassination of Oumar Lamine Badji. Wade named the opposition and internal foes from his ruling party as potential masterminders of the killing. He promised to use his last energy to bring the perpetrators to justice.

But the MFDC rebel movement has denied any involvement in the murder. Jean-Marie Francois Biagui, the Secretary- General of MFDC’s political wing said the murder is an internal fight in the ruling PDS Party.

Oumar Lamine Badji murder took place a few days after an armed attack during which two senegalese soldiers were killed. They were part of a team supported by Morrocan army personnel, that’s deployed in the area. Some MFDC’s officials have expressed disagreement with the operation, arguing it‘s was an unilateral move from the senegalese government.

Meanwhile, President Abdoulaye Wade named a new High School in Ziguinchor, after Oumar Lamin Badji before his return to Dakar.