Freetown on Fire
By Ibrahim Alusine Kamara
Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown is presently on fire as violence continues to rock the city.
In the last couple of weeks, the city has been overwhelmed with protest after protest in different areas of the city that are mostly linked to police brutality among other reasons.
It is no secret that the Sierra Leone Police has and continues to remain at the center of these protests either as a result of their display of brutality and highhandedness or the unprofessional way of handling situations that arise.
From their highly regarded unprofessional handling of protesting students at IPAM, the shooting and killing of an unarmed young man in Hastings Village over a land dispute to the way they allegedly continue to harass commercial bike riders in the city, the police remain the cause of most of the uproar around the city in the past couple of weeks.
There have been road blocks and setting ablaze of properties by irate youths caused by actions of the police.
For instance, youth in Hastings Village went on the rampage and set ablaze vehicles, properties and attacking police station following the shooting dead of one Alpha Kargbo by OSD personnel over a land dispute.
Another instance was seen on Thursday, April 22nd, 2021 when thousands of bike riders stormed the offices of the Ministry of Youth Affairs, AYV Media Empire and the Sierra Leone Roads Safety Authority (SLRSA) in protest over what they referred to as police harassment, extortion and brutality on them.
That protest was followed by another riot by okada riders who went on the rampage on Friday 23rd April, 2021 following the killing of a bike rider by a moving truck at The Light.
The rioting riders initially thought the rider that was killed was one of them but was later proven to be an EDSA employee identified as Alusine Barrie.
Although the Sierra Leone Police hierarchy continues to condemn the excesses of their personnel but it seems it is not proving enough as Police officers continue to exhibit unprofessional conducts on a daily basis.
It is high time the Sierra Leone Police hierarchy started taking drastic action against trigger-happy personnel and those who continue to exhibit unprofessionalism in dealing with the public so as to restore public confidence.