Sierra Leoneans have been urged to brace up for heightened security measures, as the president vows to deal with people behind Wednesday’s deadly protest.
President Julius Maada Bio on Friday said everyone involved in what his government calls an attempt to usurp political power will not go unpunished. He spoke in a televised address to the nation, two days after the incident which rocked part of Freetown and several other towns and cities across the northern region of the country.
The protesters claimed they were expressing dissatisfaction over economic hardship and government’s inability to address it.
But President Bio said the incident was anything but a cost-of-living protest, describing it as an insurrection.
“This insurrection, which was executed by clearly identified partisans using the cover of follow-on crowds including children, was characterised by targeted killings, wanton looting, and destruction of property. It was not a peaceful cost-of-living protest. This was simply an attack on the peace and security, an attack on the rule of law, and an attack on democracy,” he said live on state broadcaster SLBC.
It comes as the presidency announced changes at the top brace of the military.
A new Chief of Defence Staff, Peter K. Lavahun, was announced, replacing Lt. General Sullay Ibrahim Sesay who had been in office for only 24 months.
The new army chief was promoted from Major General to Lt. General.
Brigadier General Dauda Alpha, promoted to Major General, was appointed Commander Joint Forces.
According to a separate statement from the office of the President, a total of seven soldiers were promoted and appointed to strategic positions in the army, including Chief of Staff in the Ministry of Defence and Assistant Chief of Defence Staff.
As usual, no reason was provided for the sudden changes at the military high command, a move that has left tongues wagging.
But the involvement of the military in Wednesday’s violence may have played a role.
Some Sierra Leoneans and political observers questioned the delayed intervention of the army, after the police appeared obviously overpowered by protesters.
Prior to the incident, a letter supposedly from the Office of National Security and addressed to the Chief of Defense Staff warned about the inability of the police to deal with the potential threat posed by the impending protest alone.
Images shared on social media later proved this. They depicted scenes of a war zone in the areas where the protest happened. The protesters destroyed and burned down public buildings, including police stations. Images of the mutilated bodies of police officers were strewn around.
When the army eventually showed up, the damage had already been done.
There has been no official death toll yet.
What the police called its preliminary report, released on Thursday, only cited the four confirmed fatalities among its officers.
Local media, citing various sources, report different figures for civilian deaths. The highest so far has been 21.
According to the police, a total of 10 police stations were either vandalized or burnt down. Some private properties of police officers were also destroyed. It also notes that two government buses, three government buildings, plus a warehouse, were burnt down. And a total of 113 demonstrators were arrested.
Bio vowed to mount full investigation into the death of ordinary citizens.
It was the president’s first public address to the nation after the incident. It comes hours after images appeared on social media indicating his apparent return to the country. He was on a private visit to the United Kingdom when the incident happened, according to an earlier notice. The presidency is yet to officially confirm his return.
Vice President Dr Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh initially declared the ongoing indefinite curfew; it was meant to start from 3pm to 7am on Wednesday, August 10.
The Police has since modified the directive to 7pm to 7am, daily. It also said that while initially the curfew was nationwide, it is now restricted to areas where the protest occurred.
Far from announcing any change on the curfew, President Bio warned of further “necessary security actions.” He said the measures, which might cause some “unavoidable inconveniences”, were meant to guarantee the country’s peace and security,
President Bio linked the alleged insurrectionists to the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC), lamenting that prior to the incident, they had severally identified themselves on social media as APC Warriors and PPP. He also blamed unnamed opposition politicians for contributing to raising tensions with “divisive language and threats” to make the country ungovernable.
“The events of August 10 were a clear statement of their collective intent,” he said.
There has been outpouring of condemnations of the incident, both locally and internationally, from the sub regional bloc ECOWAS to the African Union and the United Nations, as well Western diplomats in the country. Everyone of them called for restraint and dialogue.
There are also deafening calls for investigation and for perpetrators of violence to be held to account.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the rights group Amnesty International stressed on the need for investigation and for the prosecution of all those found wanting.
“Sierra Leone must remain firmly on the path of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. The authorities should facilitate rather than seek to prevent peaceful protests, and desist from unnecessary and disproportionate responses to the protests such as shutting down the Internet and imposing open-ended curfews,” the UN Human Rights office said in a statement, stressing that all those found wanting should be brought to account “regardless of their status and political affiliation.”
On the day of the protest, internet connections was briefly disabled. It is unclear what exactly happened. A statement from the regulatory body only said that it was due to a technical problem.
