First State Witness Testifies In Over One Million Access Bank Robbery Trial

By: Mama A. Touray

Police officer Ebou Sowe, the first state witness in the Access Bank Brusubi branch robbery case, gave detailed testimony on how the four accused were arrested, appearing before Justice Omar Cham of the Banjul High Court.

After taking his oath and speaking in English, Sergeant Sowe began by recalling the day of the incident. “On the 10th February 2025, I was at the Anti crime Unit in Banjulinding. On that particular day, we received information that three armed men had stormed the Access Bank Brusubi branch and escaped with one million dalasi.”

He said officers visited the scene and collected CCTV footage which was later reviewed at the anti crime office. “In the initial CCTV footage we could not recognise the accused. After intense intelligence gathering, an informant came forward and identified one of the assailants as Ansumana Jarju.” He added that the footage showed “Ansumana Jarju wearing a plain white long sleeve shirt, grey trousers, a black belt and a facemask, carrying a black school bag and holding a black pistol.”

Sowe said they later received information that the first accused, Ansumana Jarju, was already standing trial for a similar offence. They were then informed that he was hiding in Guinea Bissau, “because he was one of the people who attacked a bureau de change in Senegambia.”

He explained that Anti crime officers reviewed their records from the bureau robbery and found an ID card with the name Ansumana Jarju, along with a sim card traced to him. “After confirming this, we concluded that we were looking for the same Ansumana Jarju.”

Sowe said they gathered the telephone number of the suspect and coordinated with the Gambia Police Force and Bissau Interpol. On Thursday the 6th February 2025, he was part of the team dispatched to Guinea Bissau for the possible arrest and repatriation of the accused.

“On the 7th February, the same Ansumana was arrested in Bissau and we were duly informed. After receiving the information, we coordinated with the Bissau police and conducted a search at his residence. During the search, we found the plain white long sleeve shirt, the black belt and a Bissau ID card bearing the name Lamin Sambou but carrying Ansumana’s image.”

After the search, the accused was taken to the Judicial Police where he was briefly interrogated. The CCTV footage from Access Bank was shown to him, “and he confirmed that he was the person in the footage.”

Sowe said that on the 9th February, the accused was handed over to the Gambian team and they returned home. “A day before our arrival in The Gambia, we received information about the robbery at Denton Bridge. It was as a result of the arrest that the other accused were also arrested.”

He told the court that a panel was set up to investigate the case, and he was tasked with obtaining the cautionary and voluntary statements of the first accused. He explained the process. “An independent witness named Wahab Manneh was present. The accused, Ansumana Jarju, was informed of his right not to say anything unless he wished to do so. He was also informed of his right to write his own statement, since he is literate, but he chose for me to write it. He was asked about his preferred language and he chose English. I asked the independent witness if he could read and write and he said yes.”

Sowe continued. “Ansumana narrated everything in English and I wrote it down. When the statement was completed, he read it and confirmed it to be correct, and the same was done by the independent witness. After this process, I endorsed the statement, he thumb printed it and the independent witness signed. The same procedure was followed for his voluntary statement and he accepted the charges.”

He said he also obtained the cautionary and voluntary statements of the second, third and fourth accused using the same procedure.

The cautionary and voluntary statements of the first and second accused were shown to the witness in court, which he confirmed as the ones he recorded. Defence Counsel TB Jallow objected to the statements and the matter was adjourned for ruling.

Ansumana Jarju, Losseni Diabate, Abdoulie Jallow and Omar Secka are charged with conspiracy to commit felony, robbery and possession of firearms without authority. According to the particulars of offence, the four men allegedly conspired to rob Access Bank on the 22nd January 2025 and made away with D1,532,645 while armed with two pistols containing 13 rounds of ammunition.

 By: Mama A. Touray Police officer Ebou Sowe, the first state witness in the Access Bank Brusubi branch robbery case, gave detailed testimony on how the four accused were arrested, appearing before Justice Omar Cham of the Banjul High Court. After taking his oath and speaking in English, Sergeant Sowe began by recalling the day The Fatu Network