By Elizabeth Kamara
Journalist Samuel Brima Mattia was brutally murdered and dumped
On February 26, 2025, the second prosecution witness, Kadiatu Kanu, a businesswoman and wife of the deceased, took the witness stand and testified.
Kadiatu, who had been married to the late journalist for six to seven years, identified the first accused as her husband’s best friend. She stated that she only became familiar with the second and third accused during the trial.
She recalled that on January 15, 2025, her husband left for work at 6:30 AM to open VOPAD Radio Station and returned home between 6 to 7 PM for dinner and a change of clothing. Later that evening, he informed her that he was going back to the station to park some motorbikes.
When Samuel failed to return home by 9 PM, Kadiatu testified that she tried calling him but could not reach him. She then contacted the first accused, who told her that he was not at the station but at home with his girlfriend.
Later, the first accused called her, claiming he had gone to the station, heard music playing inside, but received no response when he tried calling Samuel. He assured her that her husband would return soon and advised her to rest.
By the next morning, January 16, 2025, with no sign of Samuel, Kadiatu informed her mother-in-law, who advised her to go to VOPAD Radio Station. There, she found the first accused sitting under a mango tree near the office. When her sister-in-law, Elizabeth Mattia, inquired about Samuel’s whereabouts, the first accused could not provide an answer.
Concerned, they called Board Chairman Mr. Margia and a man named Foday, whom Kadiatu referred to as a brother. When they arrived, the two men took the first accused inside the office. Upon emerging, they requested that the station be closed so that they could report the matter to the police.
After going to Kissy Town Police Station, the chairman, the first accused, and Foday later returned. That same day, Aunty Neneh called Kadiatu with shocking news: the police had found a dead body in the bush.
In disbelief, Kadiatu questioned why she was being informed. However, upon arriving at the scene, she was devastated to discover that the lifeless body was that of her husband, Samuel Brima Mattia.
She later proceeded to the police station to give her statement.
Following her emotional testimony, the court adjourned the matter to March 4, 2025, for further proceedings.
Journalist Joseph Mendel Lamin, alias “Manager Dust,” along with Morlia Kamara, a commercial motorbike rider, and Umaru Timbo, a driver, made their fourth court appearance before Magistrate Sahr Kekura at Pademba Road Court No. 1 on charges of conspiracy to commit murder and murder under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, as amended by the Abolition of the Death Penalty Act 2021. The prosecution alleges that on January 15, 2025, at the Voice of Peace and Development (VOPAD) Radio Station in Kissi Town, Waterloo, the accused conspired with others to murder journalist Samuel Brima Mattia
