The driver of a stolen military ambulance has testified before Principal magistrate, Mark E Ngegba that an engine and gearbox found in possession of an accused, Prince Kamara, have the same serial number as that of the stolen vehicle.

Corporal Ibrahim Koroma, who is attached to the Joint Medical Unit (JMU), told the court that the vehicle was stolen in January 2022 when his boss, Warrant Officer Class two Umaru K. Turay, ordered him to collect a corpse at Waterloo upon the request of a minister whom the witness did not name.

According to him, when he arrived at the point where he was supposed to pick up the corpse, somebody introduced himself to him as the minister who asked for the ambulance.

He said the minister told him that the deceased was a member of a secret society and that other members of the society should be allowed to accompany the corpse in the ambulance.

The witness said he rejected that on the grounds that he was instructed to collect only the corpse and that if he accepted passengers in the vehicle, he would have acted contrary to the Military’s Standing Orders.

The witness said he was trying to call his boss on phone to inform him about the situation when he was forcefully pushed to the ground and became unconscious.

He told the court that on regaining consciousness, he realized that the ambulance was missing and he immediately informed his boss and then went on a search for the vehicle but he was unsuccessful.

The prosecution witness said he and his immediate boss were arrested and locked up and that they made a statement to the CID.

The prosecution alleges that the 37-year-old accused, a mechanic of Mango Farm in Waterloo, received the stolen military Toyota Land Cruiser, Ambulance with registration number 70SL79.