By Janet A. Sesay
Edwin Uwa Ogbonna, a Nigerian national made another appearance before Principal Magistrate Sahr Kekura of the Freetown Magistrate Court No.1 for allegedly dealing with prohibited drugs without licenses.
In his testimony before the court, Tapia Amara, Detective Police Constable attached to the Trans-national Organized Crime Unit (TOCU) recognized the accused in the dock and recalled 22nd August 2024.
He said that on the day, whiles on duty at a transferred case of kidnapping and unlawful possession of prohibited drugs was brought to the station from the Lumley Police Station for further investigation.
The witness further that the file contained an endorsed Search Warrant and statements of the complainant, Balogun Mosuro Abayomi and the witness together with some exhibits.
He said the exhibits include quantity of white substance suspected to be cocaine in a transparent polythene bag and quantity of dried shredded leaves suspected to be Kush, quantity of brown shredded leaves suspected to be cannabis sativa in clinical sachets, quantity of blue hand gloves and face masks, seven Sierra Leonean passports, one Liberian passport, two ECOWAS traveling certificates, 2,000 Naira cash, one Samsung smart phone, USD 300 cash, Le 1, 500 cash, one damaged button phone and a black jeep LNK-002. He said the accused was handed over to him for further investigations.
The witness was cross-examined by Defense Counsel, Z. A. Kanu who went on to apply for bail on behalf of the accused, stating that he is not a flight risk and will not jump bail.
State Prosecutor, Idrissa Kamara objected that the accused is a foreign national and will be a flight risk by jumping bail. He was remanded in custody until 24 September, 2024 for continuation.
The accused is arraigned in court on nine count charges ranging from kidnapping, possession of prohibited drugs without license, dealing with prohibited drugs and using prohibited drugs without license.
The charge sheet indicates that the accused, Ogbonna on Tuesday, 20 August, 2024 at Juba in Freetown, kidnapped Monsuru Abayomi Balogun. It further alleges that the accused was found in possession of loose quantity of cocaine, cannabis sativa and Kush without lawful authority and also that the accused was found using prohibited drugs without lawful authority.