By Janet A. Sesay
State Counsel, Yusuf Isaac Sesay has on Thursday, 18th June, 2026 gave a graphic explanation in court about the horror faced by Baby Mustapha whose two hands were gruesomely amputated by his very grandfather.
Counsel Sesay said it was a blatant display of wickedness by the grandfather who had tied the two hands of Baby Mustapha separately to sticks across his chest and amputated the child.
Yusuf Isaac Sowa was narrating Baby Mustapha’s ordeal before Justice Simeon Allieu at the NASSIT Court in Freetown.
The Defendant, Abubakar Jalloh is arraigned before the court on two count charges of causing grievous bodily harm with intent contrary to Section 18 of the offense against the person’s Act 1861.
The charge sheet indicates that Abubakar Jalloh, on 12th February, 2026 in Freetown, caused grievous bodily harm to Mustapha Kanu with intent to disable him.
The Defendant is also charged with child torture contrary to Section 19 of the Child Rights Act of 2025.
The indictment states that the Defendant, Abubakar Jalloh subjected Mustapha Kanu a child, to physical violence resulting to the amputation of his two arms.
The Defendant pleaded guilty to the offense of count one which is causing grievous bodily harm and pleaded not guilty to count two, which is child torturing.
On that note, State Counsel Yusuf Isaac Sesay said he will not offer any further evidence on the Defendant on count two since he has pleaded guilty to the offense on count one.
Giving his brief facts of the matter before the court, State Counsel Sesay said the Defendant, Abubakar Jalloh is the father of Hassanatu Jalloh and Hassanatu Jalloh is the mother of the victim, baby Mustapha Kanu.
He said sometime last year, Hassanatu Jalloh, daughter of the Defendant was with her husband, Alimamy Kanu in the provinces and they have three children and the victim baby Mustapha Kanu is the second of them.
State Counsel Sesay further explained that the Defendant was residing at Sussex village in the Western Rural District and that he had called his daughter Hassanatu Jalloh to come to Freetown to stay on his site at IMMAT as a way to secure the land.
He said the Defendant also instructed his daughter to bring along her three grandchildren as it has been a while since he saw them. Counsel Sesay said the daughter complied with the call, left her husband in the province and came to Freetown as her father had requested.
Counsel Sesay explained that Hassanatu at first lived with her father the Defendant at Sussex village and after a short while, the defendant told her to move to IMMAT to take care of the piece of land he has acquired there, and asked her to go with the first and last children and to leave with him, Baby Mustapha for him to take care of him.
Counsel Sesay furthered that since the victim was left with the defendant, he never sent him to school but the defendant instead sent his own fourteen-year old child to school leaving the victim who is five years old at home.
The Prosecuting State Counsel said the defendant was living with his wife, Kadijatu Kamara, Mohamed child of the defendant and the victim, Baby Mustapha Kanu.
States Counsel Sesay furthered that on the day of the incident which was on Thursday, 12th February, 2026 in the morning, while the wife of the defendant had gone to do her business and Mohamed was about to go to school, the defendant sent Mohamed together with the victim to a telecenter for them charge his phone.
He said when they reached at the telecenter, the owner of the center took the phone and plugged it for charging using his own charger he had and returned the defendant’s charger to Mohamed who handed it over to the Baby Mustapha, the victim for him to take home.
He said they eventually went home late with the charger and so the defendant decided to punish Baby Mustapha since there was no other person in the house.
Counsel Sesay explained that the Defendant took an inner tyer rubber and tied the child’s hands separately to a stick across his chest. He said the defendant then used an elixir of pepper and hot water and sprayed it on both hands of the victim and lock him inside their room without food or water and he went to do his business leaving the child all by himself tied up in the house.
Lawyer Sesay further stated that the victim said he was pleading with his grandfather for him to have mercy on him but he ignored his pleas and locked him up and went away.
The Prosecuting Lawyer further explained to the court that the victim was locked up in the room with his hands still tied with the inner tyer and a stick across his chest till late in the afternoon when Mohamed returned from school.
He said when Mohamed saw Baby Mustapha, the victim, he asked him who tied him and that Baby Mustapha responded that it was his grandfather and he pleaded with Mohamed to untie him saying that he is feeling pain but Mohamed said he was afraid of his father and the victim also begged for water to drink but was refused water by Mohamed insisting that he is afraid of his father. He added that the victim was still in that position till evening.
State Counsel Sesay further explained that in the evening when Kadijatu Kamara came from her business, she said she was shocked when he saw the victim being tied with inner tyer and she untied his hands with tears running down her eyes.
He said later that day, when the defendant return the wife confronted him and he said that baby Mustapha Kanu likes absconding from home and she took three hundred new Leones from her bag and gave it to the defendant for him to take the child to the hospital but the defendant collected the money and refused to take the victim to the hospital and at that time the bones of the victim were aggravating and the defendant decided to apply mauve-coloured medicine on the hands of the victim.
He said on the third day after the incident, the defendant contacted a neighbor, Salamatu Koroma telling her that his grandson has an accident and Salamatu Koroma took the victim and they both went to a clinic at Sussex village but that on their arrival at the said clinic, they were referred to the Emergency hospital where he was subsequently admitted.
Photos of baby Mustapha Kanu were shown to the court when he was admitted at the emergency hospital.
He said at the hospital the Matron Nurse, Bintu Jawara upon hearing the situation of the victim immediately alerted the police at Adonkia police station and the defendant was arrested.
He said it was at this point the victim’s mother was contacted and they told her that the victim is sick and admitted at the Emergency hospital and she went there.
State Counsel further stated that the mother of the victim when she saw her child burst into tears and she called her husband who also came in a rush and was also in tears.
He said the Doctor approached both parents and told them that the only way they can help was to amputate Mustapha’s hands but that they rejected it and prayed against it and they refused to sign the consent form at the hospital and the victim was discharged.
State Counsel Sesay said both parents later went to the Connaught Hospital for medical treatment and they were also hospitalized and that they were again told that the only way out for baby Mustapha was to amputate his arms, but that the parents rejected.
He said the bones of the victim were falling and they decided to seek a solution up-country when the brother of the defendant Gibrilla Jalloh said he had a good Doctor in Bo and promised them that the Baby Mustapha’s hands would not be amputated and together with Baby Mustapha’s mother, Gibrilla took them to Bo were they ended up being for a month thinking there will be a solution but there was no solution and the flesh and bones of the child were gradually falling apart due to decomposition.
Counsel Sesay stated that Baby Mustapha’s hands were not amputated rather they fell off because the flesh and muscles had decomposed.
He said the mother called the father to inform him about the conditions of their child.
He said they returned to Freetown and accepted the fate of their child and started applying treatment.
State Counsel Sesay stressed: “today baby Mustapha Kanu is now a disable without his two hands.”
He said the defendant admitted to the allegation at the police station and his plea in court is consistent that he indeed tied the hands of the victim with inner tyer and was pleading for the matter not to be charged to court.
Justice Simeon Allieu adjourned the matter for him to hear the defendant’s own side of the story and for him to sentence him accordingly.