By Mohamed Foday Conteh
Magistrate Mark Ngegba, at the Pademba Road Magistrate Court in Freetown, has sent Thomas Emerson Conteh, a driver for the National Coronavirus Response Centre (NaCOVERC) together with Henry Coker (bike rider) and Sulaiman Kanu (student) on remand at the Male Correctional Centre for attempting to steal a NaCOVERC vehicle.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Hawa Bah, the Prosecutor led in Abdul Rahman Kamara, a commercial driver and student in evidence as the first witness.
The student said that he recalled on the 12th October this year when he received a call from the third accused, Kanu that they have a NaCOVERC vehicle for sale. He said he decided to leave Makeni the following day to meet the three men in Freetown with the intention of exposing them.
The witness told the Magistrate that he contacted the Personal Assistant (PA) to the Resident Minister North-West Region, Isata Abdulai Kamara about the plan of the three men before he left Makeni.
He said he was in communication with the second accused, Coker as he was the one who gave the location of the vehicle. He stated that their initial meeting point was Wilkinson Road but was changed twice -first at Bottom Mango and later Hill Cut Junction, Wilberforce.
He explained how he met both the first and second accused at Hill Cut and he and they all went to the entrance of Wilberforce Barracks where the vehicle was parked. He said that the three of them entered into the vehicle and both accused told him the third accused, Kanu was on exams.
He alleged the first accused told him he was a driver for NaCOVERC and that his boss has travelled together with the First Lady to Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and she won’t be returning for the next three weeks.
He said that the first accused told him he wanted to sell the vehicle in Guinea and use the proceeds to travel to Turkey.
Kamara told the court that the men priced the vehicle at $50,000 but will accept $45,000 since the vehicle has no document.
The witness said that on their way to Kambia, the third accused joined them at Hastings. He then pleaded with the men to make a brief stop at Kambia before crossing to Guinea.
He said when they arrived in Kambia, he was able to contact the driver of the Resident Minister North-West Region, Bashiru and informed him about the plot at hand.
He said the minister arrived 30 minutes later with police and first arrested the third accused. He said it was the third accused who later implicated the other two men.
The witness told the court that he asked the Police that he be locked up with the other three so he would get more information from them. After spending six days in a Police cell at Kambia they were all transferred to Port Loko and later the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Headquarters in Freetown.
The man told the Magistrate that he has recordings of the conversations they had on their way to Kambia and messages between him and the accused persons via WhatsApp.
During cross-examination by lawyer Charles Williams for the second accused, the witness confirmed he knew the second accused through the third accused who had been his friend for over eight years.
The three men were in court on allegations that they conspired together and with other unknown persons on the 13th October 2021 at NaCOVERC headquarters, Kingtom in Freetown to commit a felony to wit larceny.
Magistrate Ngegba adjourned the matter for the 1st December this year for a continuation of cross-examination by lawyer for the first accused, Alfred Kamanda.
Copyright © Politico Online 24/11/21
