By Saio Marrah
Staff Sergeant Idrissa Kallon, the ninth accused in the ongoing court-martial is reported to have admitted to investigators that he was involved in the November 26, 2023 failed coup.
Testifying as the 17th prosecution witness, one of the investigators, Sergeant Bangura, who obtained a statement from the accused told the court on Friday 16th February 2024, that the accused, who earlier denied having anything to do with the coup, admitted playing a part after his Whatsapp audio conversation with another soldier was played back to him.
The 58 minutes long Whatsapp audio, conversation with Staff Sergeant Kellie Marah of the Forces Intelligence Security Unit (FISU) beginning at 8:58 pm on Saturday 25th November 2023, indicated among other things that, “we dae attack Maada Bio ihn lodge this net,” translated to mean: we will attack Maada Bio’s lodge this night.
The accused then told investigators that he was not part of the coup planners, but that he was persuaded by Captain Jalloh of the 15th battalion, who told him about poor medical services for soldiers at the 34 military hospitals at Wilberforce. He said Captain Jalloh promised to address that situation when they take power.
Responding to a question as to why he confided in Kelly Marah, the accused told investigators that he trusted him.
Before the audio was played back to him, the accused argued that he left his deployment, the 15th Battalion in Lungi on the night of Saturday 25th November 2023, without a pass on the pretext that he wanted to attend a family meeting. He said after crossing over to Freetown from Lungi on the night of Saturday 25th November he decided to go to Number Two River Beach “to enjoy myself”.
At about 02:00 hours on Sunday 26th November, he proceeded to Lumley where he was arrested by the assailants who ordered him to join them and that he also saw Lieutenant Colonel Sandy, who told him that he was also arrested. The accused said he was forced to drive one of the vehicles of the assailants.
According to the witness, the accused told him that they headed to Cockeril military headquarters, Murray Town, and then Pademba Road Prison where they freed prisoners.
At the Pademba Road Prison, the accused said he helped Lieutenant Colonel Sandy to escape from the assailants after he requested help, but that he (the accused) was afraid to do the same because the assailants would chase and kill him.
The 17th prosecution witness further read out the voluntary caution statement of two other accused persons- the fourth, Staff Sergeant Abu Dauda of 15 Battalion, and the seventh, Sergeant Mohamed Kamara alias Ranger of Cockeril Station respectively.
According to the witness, pictures showed the former in a village preparing himself with charms and that the liquid substance given to him was the same found in the vehicle of the assailants. Fourth accused Dauda told investigators that although other people use the charm for different purposes; he intended to protect himself as he was part of the ECOWAS standby force.
According to the witness, the fourth accused denied the allegation that Corporal Thalie Marah kept three bags of charcoal that also contained eight AK-47 rifles with magazines and live bullets. But, he said during a search conducted at Dauda’s apartment at Lungi Military 19 blind bullets were discovered in his room and he agreed with investigators that he ought not to have kept them in his apartment and denied that he intended to use them to scare armoury men to gain access to riffles. The accused said he wanted to use them for training and funerals.
Sergeant Kamara, the seventh accused, whose statement was obtained on the 3rd December 2023, told investigators that he was asleep in his apartment at Wilberforce Barracks at 03:00 hours on Sunday 26th November 2023, when he heard a blast of Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG).
The accused said he quickly dressed up in combat gear and headed to the 5 battalion headquarters and that upon his arrival, he was arrested by unknown gunmen.
He said the gunmen escorted him towards the armoury and when he asked to know what was going on, he was told that he would know later. The seventh accused said he was then ordered to join the second accused, Sergeant Kamara alias Amerikin in loading magazines with live rounds.
He said the second accused told him that he was also arrested. At that point, the accused said he managed to escape, went home and tried to call his boss, Colonel Kposowa, but his phone was busy.
According to him, in the morning all soldiers were called upon to assemble at the 5 battalion to collect weapons but that he was among those who did not receive a weapon and he was advised to stay around.
He said on Monday 27th November, he reported for duty at Cockeril and that on the following day while at Cockerill, his boss Colonel Kposowa informed him that his name had been mentioned by the second accused, Amerikin, so he reported himself to the police.
Copyright (c) 2024 (Politico 20/02/24)
