While the leadership of the Sierra Leone Police, Inspector General William Fayia Sellu, has admitted in a police press release signed and issued Monday 15 August 2022 that the police were on Sunday 14 August involved in the killing of Hassan S. Dumbuya, fondly known as Evangelist Samson, and the arrest of four others, legitimate concern is therefore being raised about policing in Sierra Leone.
Samson’s remains were taken to the mortuary of 34 Military Hospital in Freetown shortly after he was killed for reasons best known to the police.
The main opposition All Peoples’ Congress (APC) party received news of the death of Hassan S. Dumbuya with shock and grief, as stated in a twit shared by Hon. Abdul Kargbo, Secretary of the APC Interim Transitional Governance Committee (ITGC), saying: “The Interim body is shocked to learn about the demise of comrade Evangelist Samson.”
The police alleged that they had a crossfire during which Hassan S. Dumbuya was killed and four others were arrested. But eye witness accounts revealed that Hassan S. Dumbuya was shot dead at his brother’s shop on Station Road in Makeni, where armed police personnel met, shot and killed him in cold blood and arrested four others, who are still in custody.
Amidst trending calls for independent investigations into extra-judicial killings by security forces prior, during and after the August 10 protest, police have confirmed that raids were conducted in Makeni, during which Hassan S. Dumbuya was killed and four others arrested.
As the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) works hard to cover up its excess unprofessionalism in policing in a democratic dispensation, it is becoming increasingly clear that something is amiss in the operations of the SLP.
Hence IG William Fayia Sellu, who recently acknowledged challenges in the conduct of the police during his confirmation before the Appointment Committee in Parliament, continues to preside over series of alleged secret and extrajudicial killings since the day of the August 10 protest to date.
Going by the ambiguity of the police press release signed by IGP Sellu, it appears that the police are trying to shift blame for the killing of the young man believed to be a popular and strong member of the main opposition APC party.
It is still unclear who exactly among the police personnel that actually did the killing of Hassan S. Dumbuya aka Evangelist Samson. Does the SLP leadership want to tell the world that the young man died due to collateral damage? This is among dozens of questions and concerns being raised by right groups in the wake of calls for independent investigations into the alleged extra-judicial killings taking place around the August 10 protest.
The police are on records for mishandling civilians and other rights abuses with no exceptions of brutality.
