Two business women on Monday, December 4, testified before magistrate Abdoulie Mbakeh of the Kanifing magistrate court, in the ongoing case concerning Dodou Kassa Jatta and his co-accused.

The first to appear was Binta Njie. She told the court that she was a business women and a resident of Bakau and that she recognised one of the accused persons, Cherno Ndure Jarjue.

She told the court that on the 27th of June this year, while sitting at Bakau Bantankoto registration centre, one of the accused, Cherno Ndure Jarjue came there around 5pm with an iron bar in his hand. “He came and stood by the table where we were sitting and asked, “who reported my uncle to the police?”, and then started insulting people”, she told the court.

According to her, her daughter, Sireh Jammeh, was then standing close by writing, and Cherno (the accused) asked her whether she was writing his name, but her daughter just ignored the question. She said it was then that Cherno lifted the iron bar and attempted to hit her daughter.
At this point she (Binta) immediately grabbed the bar from Cherno. She said after taking the iron bar from Cherno, she handed it to one Fatou Badjie. “I did not report the matter to the station, but I was called to report to the station by the station officer at Bakau”, she told the court. Binta also recognised the said iron bar which was shown to her in court.

Also testifying on that day was one Kaddy Sidibeh, who told the court that she was a business woman living in Bakau. She told the court that on the day in question, they were at Bantankoto between 4:30pm and 5.00pm when a group of people arrived hurling abuses, though they did not mention anybody’s name. She said that was the time she stood up and told her people not to respond to anyone.

In a bid to calm him down, Mrs Sidibeh said she personally approached Cherno because at that time he was angry and ready to fight.

She said that Cherno was neither a party agent nor an applicant on that day.

She said, from there the police came and asked them to report to the Bakau Police Station.

Mrs Sidibeh identified the said iron bar in court and the accused, Cherno Ndure Jajrue.

During cross-examination by defense counsel Lamin Camara, Binta Njie told the court that she sustained no injuries while trying to take the iron bar from the accused, Cherno Ndure Jajrue. Kaddy Sidibeh also admitted that it was the police who came to Bantankoto and asked them to report to the station. The case continues