By: Audrey Raymonda John
A cyber analyst has testified before Magistrate John Manso Fornah of Pademba Road Court No. 2 in an incitement case involving Mohamed Moriba, a politician, former military officer, and Southern Province Public Relations Officer of the All People’s Congress (APC).
Moriba made another appearance in court on a one-count charge of incitement contrary to law.
According to the particulars of offence, on Saturday, 27 December 2025, at Kamalo Village in the Karina Judicial District, North-East Province of the Republic of Sierra Leone, the accused allegedly created audio and video recordings containing inciting messages intended to cause mayhem, disorder, chaos, and unrest in the country. The prosecution stated that the content was later posted on the Salone Gossip Hub TikTok account.
When the charge was read and explained to the accused, no plea was taken.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Dialla Wellington, leading the prosecution, called Prosecution Witness One, Abdul Francis Molu, who testified that he recognized the accused. He said that on the stated date, he viewed the alleged videos a day before the arrest and later effected the arrest on the instructions of his superior, Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Andrew Kamara. The witness stated that he could not recall the exact number of videos he watched.
Prosecution Witness Two, Ibrahim Sorie Kamara, a Cyber Analyst, told the court that his role is to examine electronic evidence and analyze digital data extracted from electronic devices. He testified that he examined three video recordings and confirmed that they did not contain references to Islamic religion, nor did they include direct instructions for violence. However, he said the videos had the tendency to incite violence.
The witness explained that the videos were not obtained directly from social media by him but were provided on a pendrive by DASP Kabba Lavallie, Supervisor of the Scientific Support Unit at CID Headquarters. He stated that he prepared transcripts of the videos and sought to have them admitted into evidence. The transcripts were subsequently produced and tendered as Exhibits A1-A18.
Under cross-examination, the cyber analyst admitted that he could not determine whether the accused personally posted the videos on social media and agreed that the source of the videos was a third party. He also acknowledged that the videos did not show the accused instructing anyone to commit violence and that the accused appeared to be among a group of people while the recordings were made.
He further agreed that in one of the videos, the accused praised the First Lady for donating 200 bags of cement toward the construction of a mosque. The witness clarified that his responsibility was limited to analyzing the materials presented to him and not determining whether an offence had been committed.
At this stage, defence counsel applied for a short adjournment to allow for further cross-examination and renewed the accused’s bail application, adopting previous submissions.
However, Magistrate Fornah refused bail, maintaining the earlier grounds, and ordered that the accused be remanded at the Male Correctional Facility in Freetown.
The matter was adjourned to 2 February 2026.