By Francis H. Murray
Magistrate Mark Ngegba has committed to the High Court the case involving Ali Sajah Foster, Victor Emmanuel Sesay and Micheal Abass Turay, who are accused of conspiring to murder the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Lahai Laurence Leema.
This followed the end of preliminary investigations in the matter.
In his committal address on Friday 11th September 2020, Magistrate Ngegba noted that the prosecution had enough evidence, making the accused persons fit to be tried at the High Court.
The accused persons were arraigned on 14 counts charges, including conspiracy to murder, conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm with intent, conspiracy to cause malicious damage, carrying offensive weapons, throwing missiles, and riotous conduct.
The prosecution alleged that the accused persons, on Saturday 1st February, 2020, at Mina Drive, Juba in Freetown, during the national cleaning exercise, conspired together with other persons unknown to murder the Deputy Minister.
It is also alleged that the accused persons, on the same day and place, conspired to commit malicious damage at the residence of Leema, and they were also found carrying offensive weapons without lawful authority.
During the course of the preliminary investigation, a number of witnesses testified, including the officer who fired the shot and Mr Leema himself.
During his testimony on the 4th August, 2020, Police Constable 15756 Aiah Fengai, security guard assigned to the Minister, told the court that he was on duty on the 1st February, 2020, at the Deputy Minister's residence, when he saw stones and bottles being thrown inside the compound.
‘‘I opened the gate and saw a group of irate youths outside of the Minister's residence. The large crowd of youths started raining all manner of motherly invectives on the minister with some of them shouting, we’re not here for you, but for the Deputy Minister," he explained.
Minutes later, the witness said, the group of irate youths attacked him and attempted to disarm him but were unable to do so. He added that he later used pepper spray to disperse the attackers, but they still would not leave the premises.
He went on to say that since the pepper spray couldn’t stop them from attacking him further, he then cocked his gun and fired a warning shot in the air which still proved futile in stopping the attackers from advancing at him.
"I tightly held unto my gun when the 1st and 2nd accused persons rushed at me and attempted to disarm me. A few seconds later, I saw the 2nd accused with a long machete. I realized at the height of the attack that I could lose my life, so I had to engage my rifle and shot at the first accused," he said.
Fengai further noted that the Deputy Minister came out of his room and stood at his veranda from where he was informed about the alleged attack, adding that the Minister then ordered him to maintain his defense while he made several calls outside, which brought to the scene two military officers as well the then Assistant Inspector General of Police, (AIG) Sovula, who came with his personnel.
First accused Foster, who was shot in his left foot, had argued that he didn’t attack the Deputy Minister but that they had come from the house of a man for whom they had worked for and were given some amount of cash which they attempted to share among themselves in the streets outside the Minister’s residence. He has been on medication right throughout the investigations.
The accused persons were admitted to a two hundred million Leones bail bond and other conditions but they were unable to meet the bail conditions and were remanded again at the correctional center.
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