By Mabinty Kamara
An Egyptian firm, the Horse Fishing Company, is under pressure to explain the sudden disappearance of one of its staff who is feared dead after falling off into the sea.
Abdul Rahman Foday Janneh, 42, went missing since August 29. He was reportedly part of a team that was trying to rescue a sinking boat belonging to the company when he fell into the water and suddenly disappeared.
The incident which happened in Jui, the base of the company, is also the subject of police investigation.
But the family of the disappeared man is unsettled over the lack of corporation from the company.
Bashiru Janneh, an elder brother of Foday, told Politico that the “negligence” displayed by the company towards the disappearance of his brother has left the family worried.
“We can’t confirm he is dead when his remains can’t be found and the cause of death proven by a pathologist,” Bashiru said.
The matter was reported to the Kissy Division of the Sierra Leone Police, where Abdulai Kemokai, Offer in Charge of Crime, said they have commenced parallel investigation with the Sierra Leone Maritime Administration.
“We have been to the scene and have invited the manager and the eight other people that were pushing the boat with the deceased,” Kemokai explained, without providing further detail.
Bashiru said it is unacceptable that the remains of his brother couldn’t be located up to date. He said that the place where the troubled boat was located wasn’t far from the jetty and that it wasn’t so deep that someone could easily drown in it.
Bashiru also said that the boat has since been moved from the scene and that they were told it went in search of the missing man.
However, the General Manager of the company, Sheriff Umar, said the boat was shifted from its original location because the divers wanted the place cleared so they could do their job of searching.
Mr Umar told Politico that the company is very much concerned about what happened to Janneh, whom he described as one of their best staffers. He promised that they would continue with the search.
“Janneh was very close to me and to the entire management. I came to find out that Janneh is a very had working man, upright and he prayed a lot. Whenever he takes over, he would go round to ensure that everywhere is safe, which is what informed my decision to increase his salary,” Umar said while narrating his relationship with Foday.
According to Umar, it was Foday who discovered that the boat was sinking. He said he (Foday) was on duty when he noticed that the boat was going down and that as a security officer, his role being to protect lives and properties of the company, he felt obliged to save the boat.
Mohamed S. Bah, Chief Security Officer at Horse Fishing Company, said he was on duty with Foday when the latter left to do his normal round of patrol only to find the boat sinking. He said Foday fell into the water when he tried to save the boat.
The chief security officer said he and other colleagues tried to rescue Foday unsuccessfully.
“Janneh has very good working relationship both with his colleague staffers and management,” he said.
© 2019 Politico Online
