By Saio Marrah
A police recruit, Fengai Babonjo has appeared before Magistrate Mark Ngegba in Freetown for unlawful possession of Cannabis. In his testimony, the commandant of the Sierra Leone Police Peacekeeping and Law Enforcement Academy (SILEA) at Hastings, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Alieu Jalloh said on Saturday 30th September this year at about 14:30 hours, he was performing his routine checks at one of the billets at the said Hastings campus where he met the accused in a strange uniform going in the opposite direction.
The commandant said he interrogated the accused and further observed that he was holding something upon which he immediately called the billet captain, Dauda Komba, together with another recruit and ordered them to arrest and search the accused and his bag which was tied around his waist.
The court learned that they later conducted a thorough search on the accused who has now been dismissed at the guard post, where they discovered 43 wraps of dried leaves, suspected to be Cannabis. He told the court that when he cautioned and questioned the accused, he admitted that the substance was indeed cannabis.
The commandant’s statement to police further indicated that the accused informed him of how someone gave him the substance at Rogbangba Junction to sell to his colleague recruits. The statement also noted that the accused begged the commandant not to pursue him criminally, and suggested that a regimental punishment on the campus be instituted.
The witness said he transferred the case to the Transnational Organized Crime Unit (Tocu).
The case resumes 20th November this year.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (08/11/23)
