By Kemo Cham
In an apparent move to calm down nerves amid uncertainty created by reports of shooting in Freetown, Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio has said that calm has been restored.
Residents of the capital were woken by sounds of gun shots from around the country’s main military barracks at Wilberforce in the west end of the city in the early hours of Sunday morning. The military facility is located near the Presidential Lodge, the official residence of the president.
There have been rumours that the “unidentified” attackers attempted to overrun the compound.
But President Bio in the statement shared via his official facebook page and said to have been issued from State Lodge, assured the nation that his government was in control of the situation, noting that security forces were working on rooting out the “remnant of the fleeing renegades.”
The statement was also shared on the official facebook page of the Ministry of Information and Civic Education.
In it, the president also called for unity, while vowing to protect the nation “against the forces that wish to truncate our much-cherished stability.”
He also confirmed an early announcement imposing a nationwide curfew and urged citizens to stay indoors.
“As the combined team of our Security Forces continue to root out the remnant of the fleeing renegades, a nationwide curfew has been declared and citizens are encouraged to stay indoors,” he said.
