By Abass Jalloh
Four accused persons - Amadu Bello Mohamed Tholley, Augustine Korfuma alias “Councilor”, Boibe Gibnia Conteh, and Daniel Samura alias “One Man Geng” - are before the court to answer to charges of conspiracy, robbery with aggravation, assault, carrying offensive weapons without lawful authority contrary to the laws of Sierra Leone.
The charge sheet stated that the accused persons on Friday 1st July 2022 at Wongor Mining International Cooperation Sierra Leone Limited at Kumoroh village, Nimikoro chiefdom in Kono District, conspired with unknown people in possession of cutlass and scissors to rob a Chinese National, Ruiping Chen, a black bag containing 4,498.5 grams of gold substance valued at five hundred and twenty-two thousand five hundred Leones (NLe 522,500) and used “personal violence” to the complainant.
It was further alleged that they assaulted the complainant in a manner thereby occasioning actual bodily harm, while the accused, Daniel Samura, carried offensive weapons to wit cutlass and scissors without lawful authority or reasonable explanation.
The prosecution in the trial of the alleged robbery presented the Acting Chief Security and Human Resource Officer of the company, Melvin Francis Jackson, as the third witness to testify on the incident.
Testifying yesterday 23rd August 2022 at Court No. 1 of the Magistrate Court at Pademba Road in Freetown, the witness disclosed that he is responsible for supervising the daily activities of the company.
He said he recognized the first accused as security guard, second accused as head of vigilante, third accused security guard, and as well as the fourth accused.
He recalled that on the above date when he was at the mining site between hours of 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. and mobilized his security personnel from the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF) and the Operations Support Division (OSD) to move the processing plant of the company. He said upon their arrival they met some of the workers and some securities including the first and third accused at the site.
The witness stated that one of his staff confirmed to him that some unknown men went into the bush with minerals, adding that he then organized a search around the mining land.
He said during the process they discovered the fourth accused wearing a face mask and was reported to have a locally-made gun together with minerals. He said the accused was then brought to his office.
The witness disclosed that the first accused told him that the third and fourth were part of them, adding that when the search was on going, they found bullets at the exit point of the site.
The four accused persons were arrested by the Mortema police post, adding that cutlass, bullets and facial mask were handed over to the police as exhibits.
During cross-examination by defense lawyer, Jesse Munda Jengo, the witness was asked whether he was aware that the fourth accused (Daniel Koroma) was shot. He said he was not aware of any security personnel who shot him, adding that he was aware of the vigilante group formed by the chiefdom stakeholders and the mining company.
The witness further responded that the place where the search was conducted is a prohibited area because it is within the parameters of the company.
At this juncture, Lawyer Jengo renewed his application for bail but was rejected by Magistrate Mark Ngegba, and they were sent back to prison.
The matter continues on Friday 26th August 2022.
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