A senior intelligence officer has disclosed that he was in charge of the items allegedly recovered from the nine MFDC rebels who are being tried on charges terrorism and related activities.

”I was responsible for the items recovered from the accused persons during the investigation. I had to present them anytime they were needed by the panel.”

Samba Gajaga detailed the recovered items, which comprised charms, the map of The Gambian, a motorbike, mobile phones, photo camera, a Gambian passport, one rifle and Gambian identity cards, record books, military equipment, and a laptop.

He told the Banjul Magistrates Court, presided over by Principal Magistrate BY Camara that he was part of a panel set up at the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) Headquarters in Banjul to investigate the activities of the accused persons.

Gajaga said Sidat Jarju, the first accused, had attempted to smuggle away the recovered evidence from the dwelling house of Nuha Jammeh, the third accused person.

The third prosecution witness added that CFA 7.8 million  and €1,000 , which were also part of the recovered items, were kept in a brown jewellry box. He recalled that some documents, such as an ID card, was found bearing the name of Amadou S Badjie, but he noted that the photos were that of Nuha Jammeh.

He informed the court that printouts of from the camera film revealed “spy photographs” of security nerve centres, including the State House, the Fajara Barracks, and the Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS), as well as some “combat” photographs.

He further informed the that court that they also discovered a report involving fraudulent conversion in connection to a trip to Free Town, Sierra Leone, and receipts, bearing the name of Abdou Salam Jammeh, the eight accused person.

Gajaga adduced that the recovered mobile phones were taken to Gamtel to find out who the accused persons were communicating with - both within and outside the country.

At that juncture, Emmanuel Fagbenle, director of Public Prosecution, applied for the court to admit the items as exhibits, saying that the piece of evidence relevant to the case were the ones before the court.

In his ruling, Principal Magistrate Camara told the court that the accused persons have failed to object to the major items, including the motorbike, the laptop and the Gambian identity cards. He then admitted the items and marked the items as exhibits accordingly.