Sierra Leonean women representatives say they are presently wailing and groaning over the continuous victimization, harassment and molestation meted out to them by the present government from which they had expected their absolute protection. The nefarious occurrence people say is first in the history of the nation, and nepotistically, the continuous mayhem on women is basically directed to women thought to be sympathisers of opposition circles in governance.
Merely less than two weeks ago, women public figures in the country were brutalized behind bars because of airing out their anguish over the merciless cost of living on the people by the Sierra Leone Police, whose human rights abuses on the people keeps overflowing the brim. For such continuous trespasses, Sierra Leoneans are groping in fear and in pain as to why the government of the day they had hoped to check such excesses keeps showing a blind eye to their plight or rather supporting the minacious acts.
In a related latest development, main opposition party, the APC strong women, Madam Yabom Sesay, is detained at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters by the police. Madam Yabom Sesay is the only female district chairperson among all the 16 districts elected chairpersons in the country.
Source say the only Female District Chairperson in Sierra Leone representing Tonkolili District Council is detained by the police on flimsy accusations, relating to the occurrences in Constituency 056 Parliamentary By-Elections, Tonkolili District, where also the police were seen intimidating APC strongmen. The detention of the APC chairperson has made the public to query the neutrality of the police in serving the citizens of this country.
The Tonkolili Female Chairperson will be the second high profiled woman to be detained in less than two weeks after Femi Claudius Cole, Leader of the Unity Party, was removed from her house and detained for more than four days. On that day, Madam Femi Cole, dozens of other women around the country joined police detainees in different police posts and stations countrywide.
The attack and suppression of women by the current regime has got to dangerous levels and if nothing is done sooner, Sierra Leone will cease to be a safe place for women.
Observers who have been crying over these gross violations of human rights are still calling on the attention of the international community especially the UN and the European Union to help protect the rights of these women.
“We believe someone out there is not happy over the recent victory of a certain political party in the just concluded by-elections at Constituency 056. But if this is how to show supremacy after you have been defeated, then the ethics of democracy will keep on being destroyed during the present regime,” an observer said, adding that the women of Sierra Leone are stronger than ever, and are becoming more united on account of the present intimidations they are facing..
“Yabom, being an important stakeholder of a very important District in Sierra Leone, her arrest and detention, which people observe not necessary, will not augur well for the peace and national cohesion of Sierra Leone,” said a resident of Freetown.
