At the prosecution of Ousainou Bojang, who stands accused of murdering two officers of the Police Intervention Unit (PIU), Mama Jabbi, the third witness to testify, has related her contact with the suspect at Jululung, a hamlet located in Cassamance.
Mama Jabbi, posing as a businesswoman and a marabout, told the court that Bojang had approached her at her Jululung home. They met on a Wednesday, one day after the PIU officers were allegedly killed.
In Mama Jabbi’s account, Ousainou Bojang left the Gambia, went to the Jululung garage, and asked the garage head for help, stating that a regrettable thing had happened. Mama Jabbi then said that in order for Ousainou Bojang to go to her residence, a motorbike known as Jakarta was given to her.
They phoned Jakarta to come to my house and gave Ousainou Bojang a motorbike servicing. I was laying down, on the phone, while Jakarta dropped him off at my house. I went completely crazy when he got off the motorbike and looked like this. I told my pal that I felt like something wasn’t right. Ousainou Bojang revealed to me that he needed help getting an armlet and money so he could go to Ziguinchor. Two police officers died, one of them is in the hospital right now, and I am the one who killed them.Ousainou Bojang declared his intention to do an ablution after learning this information. Despite his lack of prayer, I gave him some water and a prayer mat. He begged for assistance from Aunty while seated on the mat, saying, “My life has been shattered.” I asked about his address and name. He said, “I’m Ousainou Bojang from Brufut,” in response. I then took a picture of him and recorded his voice,” Mama Jabbi said in court.
Mama Jabbi continued her evidence, telling the court that Ousainou Bojang asked her not to take his picture as she was trying to snap one. She reassured him, however, that she wasn’t taking his picture.
Mama Jabbi said that Ousainou Bojang later asked for her help, but she turned him down, saying that murdering someone was not an extreme thing to do.
In her testimony, Mama Jabbi said that she told Ousainou Bojang to stay seated and wait for her to return. This, she said, was when she left the situation to go outside and call the Senegalese Police.
“I asked the Senegalese Police whether they knew anything about the killing in the Gambia when I got in touch with them. They acknowledged that they knew, and I told them that the offender was here with me. I verified that I had his picture and voice note when the Senegalese Police asked for them, and I forwarded them over right away. They then told me to wait quietly and not to let the person, Ousainou Bojang, know that they were coming. Mama Jabbi testified that “the police came as we were sitting there, handcuffed him, and took him into custody.”
When asked whether Ousainou Bojang had told her that he had killed police officers, Mama said that he had, and she told the court that Bojang had admitted to murdering two of the cops, with the third being hospitalized.
According to Mama Jabbi, she alerted Musa Camara, a worker for the Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA), right away that the person in charge of the Gambia incident was in Jululung with her.
Mama Jabbi also said in her court statement that Musa Camara gave her the order to wait for his call to the Gambian Police. The cops told her to meet them in Giboro when he called.
Mama Jabbi said she took a Jakarta to go from Jululung to Giboro. When the Gambian Police arrived in Giboro, they put her in their car and drove back to Jululung.
“I went to the Jululung Police Station with the Gambian Police and then left to let them confer with their Senegalese colleagues. When they were finished talking, Ousainou Bojang and the policemen from Senegal and Gambia gathered for a picture, and I stayed seated. The Senegalese Police then took Ousainou Bojang to the border. Ousainou Bojang was then taken into the custody of Gambian police, and we all traveled to The Gambia,” she said in her statement.
Mama Jabbi said in her statement that Ousainou Bojang asked to use her phone to contact his sister in Jululung. She did, however, tell him that she was creditless. After Mama Jabbi finished her testimony, Hon. Justice Ebrima Jaiteh of the High Court of the Gambia postponed the case to November 20, 2023, so that cross-examination may take place.
Context of the Case
When Ousainou and Amie Bojang first appeared in front of Principal Magistrate Omar Jabang of the Kanifing Magistrates’ Court on September 21, 2023, they were charged with crimes pertaining to the shooting incident at Sukuta Jabang Traffic Lights, which on September 12, 2023, claimed the lives of two PIU officers and seriously injured another.
At first, the accused was facing four accusations from the police: two counts of murder, one count of terrorism, and one count of accessory after the fact to murder. The murder trial was then moved to the Special Criminal Division of the High Court of The Gambia by Principal Magistrate Omar Jabang.
The matter was brought before Hon. Justice Ebrima Jaiteh of the Gambia High Court on October 12, 2023.
Six charges and one charge were filed by the State on October 19, 2023, against Ousainou Bojang, the main suspect in the killings of two Police Intervention Unit (PIU) officers, and his older sister, Amie Bojang.
Ousainou and Amie Bojang filed not guilty pleas to the charges on October 24, 2023.