Accused Sherina Mohammed alias Hajia Filipina
Drama unfolded at the Bole District Magistrate Court today when the presiding judge, Andrew Prince Cudjoe, asked the accused Sherina Mohamed alias Hajia Filipina , the prime suspect in the gruesome lynching of madam Akua Denteh, a 90 year old woman at Kafaba in the East Gonja municipality of the Savannah region, if she was willing to stop her trade.
The accused told the judge that she cannot stop the trade, adding that it was a calling from God of which she could not decline.
The self-styled soothsayer further indicated that even if the judge goes blind or falls sick and his is brought to her , she would treat him.
The statement caused an outburst of laughter in the court room.
The accused person was arraigned before the Bole court and has been provisionally charged with murder and expected to reappear in court on August 20.
Scores of residents in the Bole district trooped to the court premises to catch a glimpse of the accused person linked to the killing of the 90 year old woman.
There was heavy security at the court premises to ensure the safety and protection of the accused person.
Hajia Filipina was nabbed by the police yesterday August 4.
Following her arrest on Monday night, she was moved from Yeji to the Savannah Regional Police Command in Damongo the next morning for further interrogation.
Hajia Filipina was brought to Kafaba to allegedly exorcise people of witchcraft and after some purported rituals, she reportedly labelled the 90-year-old woman as a witch. There were also 17 old women the so-called spiritualist claimed were witches.
DGN Online understands that when Akua Denteh was informed, she denied being a witch and appealed to Hajia Filipina and her gang to spare her, but her plea fell on deaf ears.
Reports say the woman was openly beaten to death by a mob led by Hajia Filipina.
*Accused Persons*
Already, Latifah Bumaye, 25, a trader believed to be an associate of the ringleader and five other accused persons have been arrested and put before the Bole District Magistrate court and demanded to reappear in court on August 20.
The five, believed to have participated in the lynching which has since sparked national outrage, have been remanded in police custody by a district court at Bole.
They pleaded not guilty and the court, presided over by Andrew Prince Cudjoe, remanded them until August 20.
The suspects are Haruna Aness, 34; Issaka Tanko, 35; Shaibu Murtala, 29; Sulemana Ali, 35; and Issaka Sachebu, 32 – have been charged with conspiracy and murder.
FROM Eric Kombat, Bole