By Lamin Fatty
A Taxi driver who was trying to run away after hitting a 7-year-old boy in Sinchu Demba, Wulli West has been apprehended in Niani.
The incident occurred on Friday 8th July 2021, at Sinchu Demba in Wulli West, Upper River Region, where children, including the deceased, were guarding their farmlands beside the Lamin koto-passamas highway.
While crossing the road with his colleagues, 7-year-old Mahamadou Sowe, was hit by the said taxi driver and he died on the spot.
This reporter visited the scene and Yorobawol Health Center where the victim was taken to. There, the deceased’s family was able to speak to this reporter about the incident.
Ebrima Sowe, the Alkalo of Sinchu Demba, explained how the driver escaped after hitting the child to death.
He said the driver was coming from Basse going towards Lamin koto and upon his arrival at Sinchu Demba, while these children were crossing the road for home to collect their lunch, he hit the deceased, Mahamadou Sowe.
“After hitting the child, the driver moved some distance away from the scene and turned back to the spot where he hit the child. He came out from the vehicle and checked the victim, the moment he realised that the child died and he saw many people running towards him, he entered in his vehicle and fled,” Alkalo explained.
He added the driver then changed his direction in an attempt to return to Basse. The driver went up to Sare Tenneh junction where he took the Jah kunda road and turned towards Sandu Dasilameh to avoid Diabugu Police and headed to CRR.
The deceased’s father, Samba Sowe, who was in grief could not explain anything to this reporter, but confirmed that the child was 7 years old.
The corpse of the deceased was later referred to Basse Health Centre and then to Banjul for postmortem.
The driver was apprehended by the police in Sami Karantaba after they collaborated with the soldiers from Lamin koto camp who chased the said driver up to Bamba in Senegal and arrested him in a village called ‘Firi Ndawsi’.
He was then transported back to Karantaba Police Station where he was detained and the following day, on Saturday 10th July 2021, he was handed over to Sare Ngai Police in Wulli West, according to police in Karantaba.
“We received information from Diabugu Police Station that there was a taxi driver who hit a child in Sare Demba, Wulli West. Unfortunately, the victim died on the spot but the driver was on the run, and we alerted our sister force at Lamin Koto Army Camp under the command of Captain Bakary Colley who supported us with personnel and a vehicle, which we used to chase him into Senegal up to a village called Bamba where he bent towards Nyaga Bantang in the Gambia and then we finally apprehended him in a village called Firi Dawsi,” sergeant Lee explained.
The police explained that they were late to get to the scene due to mobility challenges.
“I arrived at the scene nearly an hour later,” said a CID officer Njie, who came with a motorcycle which was used to transport the deceased to Yorobawol Health Centre, which is over 3 kilometres from the scene.
Deputy officer in charge at Yorobawol Health Centre, Ganyah N.S Baldeh, told this reporter that after conducting their necessary examination, they realised that his (the deceased) legs were broken, but this could not be the cause of his sudden death.
He added that the deceased was bleeding from the nose and the mouth.
