BENCH WARRANT FOR LANDS MINISTRY OFFICIAL!
…Over NLe180,000 Land Scam
Drama unfolded at the Freetown Magistrate Court No. 3 yesterday when Magistrate Mamakoh issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Noah Fofanah, an employee of the Ministry of Lands, Country Planning and the Environment, over a ₦Le180,000 land fraud case.
According to court documents seen by this newspaper, Fofanah stands accused of obtaining money by false pretenses and fraudulent conversion, contrary to the Larceny Act of 1916. The charges stem from allegations that he defrauded businessman Girrish Budhwani of ₦Le180,000 after falsely claiming ownership of lands in York and Juba, Western Area.
The complainant, Mr. Budhwani, through his legal counsel Lawyer Demba Barrie, informed the court that despite being duly served with a criminal summons, the accused deliberately refused to appear.
In response, Lawyer Barrie made a forceful application for a bench warrant, arguing that the defendant’s conduct was “a blatant show of disrespect for the court and a calculated attempt to evade justice.”
Magistrate Mamakoh wasted no time in granting the application, ordering police to immediately arrest and produce Mr. Fofanah before the court. The case was subsequently adjourned to Friday pending the execution of the warrant.
The criminal summons, filed by Teddy Koroma & Associates, outlines how the Ministry official, sometime in October 2023, conned the complainant into paying ₦Le180,000 under the false pretense that he owned two plots of land — one at York and another at Juba.
This latest scandal once again places the Ministry of Lands under the spotlight, as the institution continues to grapple with mounting allegations of corruption, fake land deals, and abuse of office.
A senior legal observer described the incident as “a classic example of how deeply the rot runs within the system — where public officials use their positions to cheat honest citizens.”
As of press time, Noah Fofanah remains at large, and law enforcement authorities have been ordered to track him down and bring him before the bench.
This case adds to growing public outrage over rampant land scams and the pervasive impunity that has plagued the Ministry for years.