The August 10, 2022 demonstration that turned violent has continued to cause enormous pain for the people of Sierra Leone.Since the violent and bloody protests took place some 12 days go, many people have continued to lose their lives, as others are arrested and kept in detention for further investigations.
The death toll, which started with the killing of civilians and police officers on the streets of Freetown, Makeni and other parts of the country, especially in the north and north-west regions, seemed to have continued with the killings of other people like Hassan S. Dumbuya, aka Evangelist Samson, a strong member of the major opposition All Peoples’ Congress (APC) party.
Amidst continued efforts by security apparatus of making arrests for further investigations into the protests, alarms and complaints of systematic killings of civilians suspected to be opposition members connected with the protests have continued to come from some sections of the society.
Whether these complaints are true or not, the fact remains that dead bodies or corpses have been found lying on the streets even after the Wednesday (10th August 2022) that the actual protests took place across the country. Friends and in some cases family members of those shot at and killed after the protest day of 10th August 2022 have made public the heinous loss of their people to the barrel of the gun, with such gruesome photos or footage displayed on social media for the world to see and witness. Put in other words, these death toll in connection with the protests, after Wednesday the 10th of August 2022, can be categorised as extrajudicial killings by the security apparatus, disguised or otherwise, with some people alleging that senior members in charge of internal security have been on the rampage arresting and shooting to death youths or people suspected to be behind the protests.
While the police, via a press release on 15 August 2022, have confirmed the death of Evangelist Sampson in their hands over a raid of suspected ex-combatants in a hideout in Makeni they conducted, ordinary civilians are also complaining of how members of their families are forcefully brought out of their houses and shot at point blank on allegations of they being part of the protests. There are also cases where senior government officials are said to be accusing members of the opposition, the APC to be precise, as inciters or collaborators of the August 10th, 2022 protest.
Regarding such accusations, Freetown Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, a member of the major opposition APC party, recent posted in her Facebook page that she had been falsely accused to be an inciter of the August 10th protest by the government communication staff, the Ministry of Information and Communication, Justice Radio and the Press Secretary to President Julius Maada Bio.
For instance, Yusuf Keketoma Sandi, President Bio’s Press Secretary, also posted on his twitter wall, saying: “My attention has been drawn to text and video of the FCC Mayor@yakisawyerr regarding last night programme on SLBC. Let me restate that political leaders including @samurakamara201 and @yakisawyerr who had been on audios exhibiting tribal bigotry MUST also take responsibility.”
To this end, Mayor Aki Sawyerr says: “This deliberate and continued action of making false accusations publicly has already led to constant attacks of me on social media and attempts of physical attacks on FCC (Freetown City Council) property. But this is not about me…My heart goes out to all those who are suffering at this time.
“May the souls of the departed rest in peace. I believe that in challenging times we must nurture a spirit of unity and foster platforms for peaceful engagement. I call for calm in the city and for all to avoid violence.”
Moreover, other senior APC members are said to be on the run, while others are being arrested for one reason or the other, some of which are related to the August 10th protests, the recent being a Member of Parliament, Hon Mohamed Bangura, who is said to be arrested for alleged riotous conduct in connection with the Sambaia Bendugu by-elections. Three APC MPs including Hon. Abdul Kargbo were recently issued warrant of arrests by the Criminal Investigations Department.
It is essential that the extrajudicial killings alleged to be secretly taking place and the selective arrests going on are not taken too far to avoid degenerating the situation into something else. Similar happenings today in Sierra Leone are what were going on in Rwanda that aggravated the long-run conflict and ethnic divide that was fomented in that country, where more than eight hundred thousand (800,000) Rwandese were killed within a month, when an all-out tribal-related war broke out in that country in 1994.
Hence we have to be careful and guard against such happening in Sierra Leone, even as we try to investigate the August 10th violent demonstrations in our country. In Sierra Leone, we should guard against going down that path.
But looking at what is happening in the country, as security apparatus trace perpetrators and supporters of the August 10th protest, it can be said that Sierra Leone is not on a good path, especially owing to the extrajudicial killings alleged to be ongoing in the country, to which many statesmen and women have attested. For example, the president of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ), Ahmed Sahid Nasrallah, mentioned in a recent meeting with President Julius Maada Bio that images of the August 10th violent protests were shown on international media screens across the world, which are also now showing images and reporting news stories of extrajudicial killings and unlawful arrests and detention of civilians.
President Bio at the non-state actors meeting including SLAJ, was told by SLAJ president to focus on the NEW DIRECTION promises to Sierra Leoneans. Mr Nasralla also stated that “too much politics is promoting hate and hypocrisy, undermining patriotism, nationalism, peace and national cohesion” in Sierra Leone.
So Forum is asking: Where are the moral guarantors in Sierra Leone? Are the extrajudicial killings taking place in Sierra Leone not a recipe for war?
A glimpse into the future will let anyone who cares to consider or mediate on the current trends or atrocities in the country detect that something fiercer in the light of civil conflict is rapidly brewing in Sierra Leone.
The finger pointing, the name calling, the insinuations on so-called inciters, the hypotheses of collaborations, and the extra-judicial killings – which the likes of BCC Umaru Fofana have pointed out – targeted at certain people, regions, organisations or political parties are a recipe for more chaos and disintegration of the society of Sierra Leone.
Forum therefore continues to call for peace and dialogue as the security apparatus continue to investigate the ramifications of the August 10, 2022 demonstrations in Sierra Leone.
