By Mohamed Foday Conteh
Joseph Benedict Mbogba, Chairman of Moyamba District Council has told the Freetown High Court no.2 that an accused robber, Edward John hit him with a stick when he tried to apprehend him after a robbery spree in Moyamba Township.
John is the eleventh accused out of 16 persons that were arrested and charged to court on allegations of robbery and sexual assault carried out at multiple locations on the night of the 19th May 2019.
The 16 men were arraigned yesterday 31st August 2021 at the High Court. Mbogba was led in evidence by Joseph A. K. Sesay who had led three other witnesses in the same matter at earlier sittings.
The chairman said that he knew Martha Lahai, Rev. Jane Lahai, Victoria Libby and Angela Sesay who were some of the alleged victims in the matter.
All of the said women had testified in court except Rev. Lahai who was said to be out of the country but testified at the Magistrate Court. Martha was the first witness led in by the prosecution. She had told the court of how the 16 men entered into their compound on the night of the 19th May 2019 on Bo Road, Salina in Moyamba. She said the men had assaulted her and her mother physically and sexually.
Victoria and Angela were led in as prosecution witnesses also in earlier sittings. Both of the ladies had said that they had informed and pleaded with the chairman through a phone conversation on the said night to come to their aid. The two ladies had explained to the court of how three of the said robbers had broken into their apartment where they had been hiding.
They had also corroborated each other’s evidence on the merciless beating of one Diallo (Jalloh) who was a Senegalese working for Sahelian Company of Enterprises (CSE). They had also noted that the men had threatened to harm them if they failed to comply with their directives.
Chairman Mbogba was the 4th witness for the prosecution. He said on the night of the alleged incident, he received a distress call from Angela Sesay who was his colleague. He said Sesay informed him about the robbers and that there was likelihood for them to be killed. He said it was based on that information that he took his official vehicle and darted to the police station where he met three police officers. He stated that he and the three police men left the station for the compound of Rev. Lahai which was said to have been the crime scene.
Mbogba noted in court that they were able to apprehend the 1st accused, Amadu Turay who was wrestling with Diallo at the time of their arrival. He said Turay was later taken to the station where he was interrogated and confessed to them that the operation was carried out by 19 persons. He also affirmed that Turay also told them that nine of the robbers were indigenes of Moyamba.
The State also led in one Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Richard Yambasu as the fifth prosecution witness. ASP Yambasu told the court that he was present at the alleged crime scene on the night of the incident. He said that the first accused Turay was arrested with 2 machetes and a blue motorcycle with registration number ADS 667.
The police officer also noted that it was Turay who helped them with information about his said accomplices. He also affirmed that he was the one that notified commanders of the two major checkpoints in Moyamba. He also noted that some of the men were arrested at the said checkpoints and that some were apprehended by youths in Moyamba Township. ASP Yambasu was also able to identify 19 mobile phones and two machetes that were exhibited in court as items caught with the accused persons.
During cross-examination by Komba Kanu, lawyer for all accused persons, ASP Yambasu said that they were nine in number as police men that entered the compound on the said night. He also stated that the chairman was with them on the night of the alleged crime.
Justice Monfred Momoh Sesay adjourned the matter for the 7th September 2021 with 11 more witnesses from Moyamba and Shenge to testify for the prosecution.
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