Abu Bakarr Yillah, a 47-year-old police officer formerly assigned to the Operations Division Wing at the Kambia Police Station, has been detained and charged with the murder of Fasineh Bangura.
On Thursday, August 26, 2024, the accused was brought before Magistrate Santigie Bangura at the Pademba Road Court No. 2 in Freetown on a single count of murder. However, Yillah did not enter a plea after the charges were read and explained to him.
According to the indictment, the accused, Abu Bakarr Yillah, on Wednesday, July 13, 2022, at Yana Village, in the Tambakha Yombagie Chiefdom, in the Karene Judicial District in the Northwest Region, murdered Fasineh Bangura.
Testifying under oath, the first prosecution witness, Mohamed Lamin Kamara, an employee of the National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT), disclosed that the deceased was his cousin.
He recalled that on July 13, 2024, a chieftaincy election took place in the District, and a particular candidate was declared the winner.
The witness, Kamara, narrated that after a winner had been declared, fighting ensued between two factions. He noted that the police intervened to prevent the situation from escalating and made several arrests, adding that the police fired shots into the air to disperse the crowd.
According to Kamara, the deceased ran and entered his room together with Foday Kamara. "Police officers broke down the door of the deceased's room and took him out. They wrestled him to the ground and loaded him into a waiting vehicle. I later learned that the accused shot the deceased in the head," Kamara informed the Court.
Kamara, who was in Freetown at the time, reported the alleged murder of his cousin to the Criminal Investigations Department in Freetown.
He further stated that a team of investigators visited the town and obtained statements from various witnesses. He narrated that a postmortem examination was conducted before the corpse was released to the family. The postmortem report was produced and admitted into evidence.
After his testimony, the witness was cross-examined by C. Kamara, Esq.
Following cross-examination, Magistrate Santigie Bangura remanded the accused into custody and adjourned the matter until September 2, 2024, for further hearing.
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