By Joseph Nyeweah
FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE, 15TH AUGUST 2022: The nation went into political turmoil on the 10th of August 2022 as some citizens ignored the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) government order and took to the streets as a protest against the government.
The political upheaval in Sierra Leone is making life unbearable for many citizens. Some members, alleged to be loyal to the main opposition APC party took to the streets on August 10th, 2022, in defiance of the government order not to come out in the streets without permission from the security apparatus. The security forces were ordered to take charge of any ugly situation in maintaining peace and order across the country.
Some protesters and other citizens have been arrested by security forces, while others are on the run who are alleged to have played a diverse role during the protest time yesterday.
During the security press briefing at the police headquarters, it was revealed that the situation was more tense in the Calaba town areas where live bullets were alleged to have been used by the security forces, some protesters we’re gun down who put up resistance to security forces in maintaining peace and order.
It was further revealed that two of the protesters in detention at Calaba Town confessed that some of their colleagues played diverse roles during the upheaval; among them are Bah Abdulrahaman, Mohamed Bangura and Morray Moriba of Calaba Town.
The Sierra Leone Police declared Bah Abdulrahaman, Mohamed Bangura and Morray Moriba wanted for their alleged involvement in videoing the live bullets shell and other activities of the security forces in the 10th August 2022 nationwide protest, which claimed the lives of six police personnel and twenty-one civilians.
Investigations carried out by The Independent Observer indicate that some supporters of the ruling party have accused Bah Abdulrahaman, Mohamed Bangura and Morray Moriba of allegedly inciting youths to attack the police.
The youths are said to have been instigated by the opposition All Peoples Congress (APC) party to highlight the widespread hardship and suffering which citizens are experiencing under the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) government of President Julius Maada Bio. The police have issued a “Warrant of Arrest” for their arrest.
One source told this press that Bah Abdulrahaman and others feared for their safety and fled their home to unknown destinations; they later helped them to flee the country.
We gathered that security forces are still hunting them for those whose names clearly have surfaced.
In Sierra Leone, the right to peaceful protest by members of the public is tightly controlled, as citizens are required to get permission from the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) stating their reason or reasons for protesting. But it is common practice for the SLP to refuse such requests.
It could be recalled that since the Bio-led government came to power in 2018, scores of citizens have been allegedly murdered by state security personnel. In places such as Freetown, Mile 91, Tonko Limba, Lunsar, and Makeni, citizens were killed by security forces when they staged protests, and to date no security personnel have been tried for those killings.
