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Gambia News : Interpol agent testifies in Today Newspaper editor's trial
ASP Numo Kujabi, an agent of the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) Unit of the Gambian Police Force, yesterday gave evidence in the sedition trial of the managing editor of the Today newspaper, Abdul Hamid Adiamoh.
Testifying before Principal Magistrate Buba Jawo of the Kanifing Magistrates Court, ASP Kujabi told the court that he had invited the accused person on September 21, to his office at the Police Headquarters, where he confronted him with a copy of Today newspaper, and asked him about the paper’s ownership. According to him, the accused replied that the paper belongs to him and further confirmed that he is the managing editor of the said paper.
Evidence
According to ASP Kujabi, he told the accused that they saw a story published on Today newspaper, captioned ‘Children dodge school to pick scrap metal’ and further asked him about the authors of the said article. He said Mr Adiamoh told him that the story was co-authored by Pa Bajinka and Boe Saho, both freelance reporters of the paper.
He told the court that he had further asked the accused about the duty of an editor and he replied that “he edits stories before publishing them”. ASP Kajabi added that he asked the accused whether he had gone through the said story and he replied in the positive.
According to him, at that juncture, he instructed his men to obtain a cautionary statement from the accused and also invited the authors of the story, but was quick to note that one of the authors was on the run at that time. He said one of the authors confirmed that he jointly wrote the story and was asked how he got the story. Kujabi told the court that the reporter replied that he got his information “from the town”, but did not mention which “part of town”.
According to him, the author insisted that the article was a true story. He added that a statement was obtained from him.
Discoveries
ASP Kujabi said during the investigation, he discovered that the accused has not paid sales tax from 2006, 2007 to 2008. He informed the court that he also found out that the accused is without a Gambian passport and has “permit A, which does not qualify a foreigner to engage in any business or employ anybody”.
ASP Kujabi told the court that Pa Bajinka, the co-author of the said story, told them that the accused did “insert some words” into the story. He said he had also requested for the original copy of the story the reporter submitted to the editor, but he insisted that he did not have it. According to ASP Kujabi, the author also told him that the picture attached to the story, had “nothing to do with the story” he had submitted.
The said publication of the Today newspaper was tendered in court and marked as Exhibit A.
Cross-examination
Replying to questions put to him by the defence counsel, Lamin Camara, the prosecution witness told the court that the story captioned ‘Children dodge school to pick scrap metal’ is contained on both page 1 and 2 of that newspaper.
He added that he could not tell whether the picture on the front page of the paper is of a school-going child or whether the person is above 18 years. The ASP also insisted that he could not tell whether the picture attached to the said story is of scrap metal or not, but was quick to say that the accused told him that he got the picture in 2006.
Principal Magistrate Jawo later adjourned the case to September 29. The IGP was represented by 870 Touray.
Mr Adiamoh, a Nigerian, was arrested and charged with seditious intention, before he was later granted a court bail in the sum of D200,000, with a Gambian surety, by the same court.
Gambianow News has obtained a copy of the story Below :
Children dodge school to pick scrap metal
A good number of children between the ages of seven and
nine are now believed to be staying away from schools to scour around
town for scrap metals which they then sell for meagre amounts to scrap
metal merchants.  In an interview conducted by
TODAY, many school-aged children disclosed that they usually go to dump
sites and old vehicle garages to collect metal which they sell. They
claim to use the money to buy food. According to these children, the merchants buy every kilo of the metal at two or three dalasis. These
children also claim to be registered in schools, but admitted that they
often skip classes in order to find the time to scour and search for
scrap metals. However, conditions at the scrap metal sites are far
from child-friendly. Our reporters found reptiles and rodents hiding
amidst the scrap metal junk; likely hazards for the children. The
children also search for their 'merchandise' without any protective
gear which could save them from serious injury. They are thus exposed
to cuts and bruises and a host of bacterial infection contactable from
their frequent visits to the refuse dumps. Some of these
children even admitted to TODAY that they have not been in school for a
long time and that their parents are not aware of this. A man who
wants anonymity pointed out that the people buying the scrap do so
because of selfish interests and not in the interest of the children
who should be in school. ”This will seriously affect the education of
the children and it is becoming a problem in almost all parts of the
country,” he said.
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