The Sierra Leone Police (SLP) said it has arrested several people suspected of involvement in an alleged plot to undermine state security.
Senior military officers are among those detained, the police said in a statement issued on Monday. It added that the alleged plotters intended to use a planned protest to launch their attack on state institutions and citizens.
“Preliminary investigations have revealed that these individuals planned to use purported peaceful protests between 7th and 10th August 2023, as a guise to unleash violent attacks against state institutions and peaceful citizens,” the statement says.
It didn’t indicate how many people were detained, nor did it identify any individual.
SLP’s Media and Communication Manager, ACP Brima Kamara, said they do not intend to make any further comment on the mater in order not to prejudice ongoing investigations.
“[We] can’t undermine our own work by prejudicing the investigation,” he said in a whatsapp response, when contacted by ManoReporters for further details.
At a brief press conference held at police headquarters late on Monday evening, they declined to take questions from the press, with one officer citing “the nature of the matter we are handling.”
This development comes amid a tense political atmosphere following the disputed June 24 general elections.
Supporters of the main opposition All People’s Congress have been staging protests in Western cities, seeking international support for the party’s position on the outcome of the polls.
ACP Kamara said the police didn’t receive any request for protest since after the elections.
