Published: 17 February 2023
On August 11, 2022, Mohamed Tejan Conteh ran away from armed policemen who were going after him and other protesters for asking for better governance and reforms to alleviate the problems of the youths’ high level of unemployment and economic policies that are killing job opportunities for every Sierra Leonean in the country.
Like most Sierra Leoneans, Mohamed Tejan Conteh and other protesters took part in the August 10 protest, which was held for the high cost of living and increased youth unemployment in Sierra Leone.
According to our sources, on August 11, 2022, the Police threatened Mohamed Tejan Conteh and other protesters for asking for better governance and reforms to alleviate the problems of the youths’ high level of unemployment and economic policies that are killing job opportunities for every Sierra Leonean.
Explaining what happened, our sources told this medium that, on January 8, 2023, Mohamed Tejan Conteh was threatened again by the same security agents because of his comment on social media. The Police claim that his statement is unflattering against the President of Sierra Leone. Our source further told us that the security agents were threatening to cause harm and jail him because they claimed that Mohamed Tejan Conteh is a member of the All Peoples Congress (APC), the opposition party to the ruling Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP).
The police engaged protesters in running battles, leaving 31 dead, including six police officers. Angered by the number of casualties they incurred, the police and army officers embarked on reprisal killings on the evening of the same day during a house-to-house search.
The violent situation forced Mohamed Tejan Conteh out of his home. He hid in a neighbor’s house after some of the protesters were shot dead by the police..
Mohamed Tejan Conteh left Sierra Leone for an unknown destination to seek safety and protection because if he returns, the government will arrest and prosecute him and send him to prison.
It could be recalled that the reasons for Sierra Leoneans to protest were for better economic policies, for the government to obey the freedom of speech and peace assembly laws, for violations of the human rights of citizens, and against extrajudicial killings and imprisonment of innocent citizens who came out to protest against the government.
“We were protesting non-existent rights to equal justice, disappearances of people in government custody, Police brutality, and the government granting fishing rights to Chinese to fish in Sierra Leone territorial waters that have caused devastation to the Tombo fishing industry, which has strangled economic activities in Tombo”, some of the protesters told this press.
