New York – U.S Customs and Immigration Extol Sierra Leoneans

The West African State of Sierra Leone has found a new international reputation and thanks to the exceptional honest quality demonstrated recently by a New York – based Sierra Leonean taxi-cab driver, Zubairu Jalloh of Brooklyn, New York.  (Photo: Zubairu Jalloh, makes Sierra Leoneans proud)

The good name of Sierra Leone is now the talk of Americans and other immigrants in the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut in particular and the United States in general. The familiarity about Sierra Leone’s honest and God-fearing national, Mr. Zubairu Jalloh is now one of the main issues of discussion in government offices, shopping centers, restaurants, taxi cabs, buses, trains to name but a few.

Jalloh reportedly returned a bag said to contain about $100,000 of jewelry, $200 in cash and other valuables to its rightful owner, John James of the National Arts club in Gramercy, New York.  The bag was left in the back of Jalloh’s taxi cab. 

“My good conscience will not allow me to betray my faith and my loyalty to my God,” Zubairu Jalloh told his family after he made the discovery. John James also told reporters in New York that he did not realize the bag was missing until he was at his apartment and reached for the bag to show off some treasured photographs he took with few of his late friends – actress Sylvia Sidney, writer Dominick Dunne and Alistair Cooke.

Since then, Sierra Leone has been appearing on International news headlines on U.S and British papers and other TV Channels – New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The British Daily Mail, The Telegraph, Fox News, and CBS New York among other respected media houses.  (See a reproduced story by one of the US papers below).

When I and two other Sierra Leoneans arrived at the JFK International Airport in the afternoon of Monday 14th February, 2011, Customs and Immigration officers repeatedly asked us if we were Sierra Leoneans. We were stunned by the unusual question, but affirmatively answered with a sense of pride that we are citizens of Sierra Leone.

We never knew a Sierra Leonean taxi-cab driver had rebranded the image of our beloved country the previous day in this part of the world. After processing our passports, the U.S Customs and Immigration officers told us with a beaming smile that: “You are coming from a wonderful country, Sierra Leone. You guys are very honest and we wish you a happy and pleasant stay in the U.S.”

For the fact that the story is making international news cycle, I made several telephone calls to the Chairman of the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC), David Yassky to help me locate and interview my compatriot for domestic coverage in Sierra Leone and the Diaspora.

I finally succeeded in meeting the much-talked about Zubairu Jalloh for a brief one-on-one interview at a popular African-American hall on 801 Dean Street, in the Brooklyn height, New York late last night.

Who’s Zubairu Jalloh?

Born 42 years ago in the eastern border town of Koindu in the Kailahun district, he successfully completed his elementary and high schools in Sierra Leone before he left for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to pursue his religious studies.  He was enrolled at the Islamic University of Medinah in 1990 and graduated in 1995 with a Bachelors Degree in Islamic Call (Daa’wa) and Islamic Jurisprudence. He returned home few months after his graduation and contributed immensely to “Daa’wa” activities in his country before he migrated to the U.S in 1998. Since then, he has worked for many reputable companies in the U.S. He entered into the taxi-cab business about seven years ago.

Zubairu Jalloh is a pious Muslim who believes in religious tolerance and strictly follows the teaching of the Prophet Muhammad (May peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). He’s married with two children.

New York taxi driver returns $100K worth of valuables left in cab

Updated: Tuesday, 15 Feb 2011, 2:02 PM EST
Published : Tuesday, 15 Feb 2011, 2:02 PM EST

By The Wall Street Journal

An honest New York City cab driver returned a bag containing more than $100,000 of jewelry, $200 in cash and other valuables to its rightful owner after it was left in the back of his taxi, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

The bag’s owner, John James, did not realize it was missing until he was at his apartment and reached for the bag to show off some treasured photographs he took with a few of his late friends — actress Sylvia Sidney, writer Dominick Dunne and broadcaster Alistair Cooke.

James returned to his apartment Sunday afternoon from an office near New York’s Madison Square Park, where he picked up the tote bag. He said he planned to carry them on the Amtrak Acela train that night to a bank in Delaware, where his family has two homes.

When James realized his mistake, he said he felt “complete shock and disbelief.”

He called a friend who had worked in city government, who told him they would find the bag. Crucially, James took a receipt from the driver, Zubiru Jalloh.

Jalloh was on his way uptown to pray at New York’s Islamic Cultural Center. After dropping off James, he stopped to pick up a passenger in a wheelchair. When he tried to help her into the back of his Ford Crown Victoria, he saw the bag. Inside was a large piece of jewelry with stones that looked like diamonds. “Boy, it’s big,” he said Monday.

He took it to his apartment to leave with his wife until the owner called or he could take it to a police precinct. “My wife told me, ‘This thing is very valuable. Make sure you keep this one until you find the owner,'” he said.

Meanwhile, James contacted the Taxi and Limousine Commission and other city officials trying to find the taxi driver. Because he had the receipt with Jalloh’s medallion number, he was easy to track down.

On Monday, the pair reunited outside the National Arts Club, where Jalloh dropped James off Sunday. He gave Jalloh a reward of 10 $100 bills and invited him to a Valentine’s Day party scheduled for Monday night.

Jalloh said he reluctantly took the money but declined the invitation. “My religion told me whenever you find people’s property, return it back to them,” he said.

By Alhaji Jalloh, in the USA

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