SIERRA LEONE POLICE STRIKES AGAIN
…40 year old man shot dead in land dispute
By Ibrahim Alusine Kamara
Less than a week of public bashing following their display of unprofessionalism and highhandedness on protesting students of the Institute of Public Administration and Management (IPAM) where a female student- Fatmata Binta Barrie was seen beaten, striped half-naked and bundled into an open police truck, the Sierra Leone Police is again on the spotlight following the shooting dead on Thursday, 15th April, 2021 of one Alpha Kamara- a young man in his 40s at Hastings in the Western Rural District.
The shooting, according to a press release from the Sierra Leone Police hierarchy, emanates from a land dispute which the Ministry of Lands is now looking into according to a social media communication puts out by the ministry.
The land dispute according to statement from the community headman that was circulated on social media, involves the Kargbo family on one hand and a certain Mrs. Douglas who is alleged to be an Assistant Inspector of Police on the other hand.
The headman’s account revealed that the land in question had been ruled to be the legitimate property of the Kargbo family by a competent court but the ASP allegedly refused to accept the court’s ruling and vowed to use her influence to get the said land at all cost; a refusal that has now cost the life of Alpha Kargbo.
The Sierra Leone Police hierarchy said it has instituted investigation into the said incident and that the four police personnel that were at the crime scene have all been arrested and suspended while thirteen of the protesters that were protesting for the killing of the young man are still in custody as at press time.
Although an investigation into the incident is said to have been instituted, citizens fear that this could well be another of the many ‘’buff cases’’ in which police have shot and killed innocent civilians and go scot free.