The intervention came barely two months after the Daily Observer, in its 25th November 2013 published a story captioned; 'Illegal entry' lands 18 Gambian immigrants in Angolan custody'. The story indicated that some of the immigrants were detained some 30 kilometers away from the Capital Luanda and could not have access to their family members. Speaking to this paper Monday in an interview, the country's consul general to Angola, Hajj Jawara, who facilitated the process and accompanied the deportees, lauded President Jammeh's generosity, affirming that he gave out the sum of US$10,000 to secure their release and funded their air tickets to Gambia. "In reference to an article published in the Daily Observer, when the Gambian leader was heading to South Africa to attend Nelson Mandela's memorial service, at a transit at the Luanda International Airport, he asked me how many Gambians were still in Angolan jails. I informed him that most of the detainees had their air tickets purchased by their family members, but that seven of them were still behind bars because they could not have any assistance. He immediately provided US$10,000 to buy tickets," Jawara told the Daily Observer.

Jawara also informed that each of the deportees received US$100 courtesy of President Jammeh. He thanked him for what he called his exemplary leadership. The diplomat concluded by advising the would-be travelers to be in possession of relevant documents to avoid the wrath of the foreign immigration forces.