Posted by By Ya Ousainou Darboe
The first prosecution witness (PW1) in the ongoing case of Ousainou and Amie Bojang has today September 24, testified before Justice Jaiteh.
In giving his testimony, Ismaila Bojang an employee at The Gambia Armed Forces Finance Unit and a resident at Yundum Barracks said on the 12th of September 2023 at around 9pm onwards at Sukuta Jabang highway, he and his colleagues (Omar S Jallow and Bakary R Badjie) who were nominated for training in Turkey went to the beach for training and on their way coming back, they had a lift and the lady dropped them at Sukuta traffic light where they were supposed to buy Afra. He (Ismaila) said he gave the money to Omar S Jallow to buy the said afra as they crossed the road to the other side and sat under a verandah. “Upon waiting for the arrival of Omar, we saw three police officers (1 female and 2 male) standing and facing Jabang direction, subsequently, we heard a gunshot. We thought it was negligent police firing. We turned to that direction, we saw one police officer on the floor” he said.
PW1 stated that the second male police officer was shot when he was trying to clutch the shooter with his fist, “The second male police officer was trying to clutch the shooter with his fist when the shooter shot him on his chest and that is when I ran towards to police officers to help them ” he testified.
He continued, “ The female police officer wanted to run, that is the time she was also shot”.
Still testifying, PW1 added that after the shooter shot the three police officers, he ran towards the Sukuta direction and all three of them (PW1 Ismaila, Bakary, and Omar) ran after him shouting “thief thief”. During the pursuit of the shooter, he added, they heard gunshots two different times.
He continued by saying, they lost sight of the shooter when they reached a very dark place and someone told them he (the shooter) jumped the fence, “I attempted to jump the fence to follow him but my colleague Bakary advised me not to because the shooter is armed and it could be catastrophic for him” he said.
He further stated that they returned to the scene and found out that the police officers were evacuated, “in scanning and searching the area we found 2 bullet cases” he said.
PW1 confirmed that the said gun was a pistol based, on the bullet cases as he also saw the pistol with the shooter.
PW1 described the shooter as a tall man with bowed legs wearing a yellow T-shirt and short.
Asked by council Darboe about the said bullet cases, PW1 answered that, the bullet cases are with the police.
The case was adjourned to the 30th of October 2023 for continuation.