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Claim: Viral posts on social media suggest that the EU and UK have placed visa sanctions on Sierra Leonean nationals due to the government’s failure to extradite one of Europe’s drug barons, Jos Leijjdekers.
Verdict: False! Both Sierra Leone’s Information Minister, Chernor Bah, and the Sierra Leone Embassy in the UK have denied the claim. Additionally, there is no official correspondence, either on the EU’s or the UK’s official social media handles, communicating this position.
Full Text
Sierra Leone’s social media on Thursday, July 31, 2025, was filled with a claim that the European Union (EU) and United Kingdom (UK) have placed a “visa ban” on ordinary Sierra Leonean citizens who wish to travel to either Europe, or the United Kingdom, effective immediately.
The viral piece, which has been circulated on both Facebook and in some Sierra Leonean WhatsApp forums, says failure on the part of the Government of Sierra Leone to “extradite” one of Europe’s “drug barons,” Jos Leijjdekers, back to his home country of the Netherlands is the reason for the visa ban.
Screenshot image of the viral post. Image source: DUBAWA’s Researcher: Fayia Jr. Moseray.
Sentenced to jail in absentia by the Netherlands Court for dealing in cocaine, Jos Leijjdekers had been spotted residing in the small West African nation by international media organisations, including Reuters and the BBC.
The Dutch government had since requested the extradition of the renowned drug lord, but the Sierra Leone government had not honoured the request.
To make matters even more complicated is the viral claim that the EU and UK have sanctioned Sierra Leone for its purported intransigence on the matter.
The viral claim reads in parts: “BREAKING NEWS: EU AND UK REVOKE SIERRA LEONEAN VISAS OVER EXTRADITION ROW OF JOS LEIJJDEKERS.
“…the European Union and United Kingdom have revoked visa privileges for Sierra Leonean nationals following ongoing tensions surrounding Dutch drug lord Jos Leijjdekers.”
It is irregular for the United Kingdom and the European Union to take such a drastic action against a sovereign country when there are no reports of the Netherlands taking such an action against Sierra Leone for harbouring its citizens believed to have committed a crime. If there is such a ban, it should have come from the Netherlands.
Due to the seriousness of the claim, including its potential to damage the good bilateral relationship existing between Sierra Leone and the EU and the UK, DUBAWA decided to verify the claim.
Verification
Sierra Leone’s Minister of Information and Civic Education, Chernor Bah, told DUBAWA via WhatsApp correspondence that the viral claim is “fake,” stating that there is no official statement from either the EU or UK to support the viral article.
“The viral post/claim is categorically false,” the minister indicated.
Also, DUBAWA checked the official Facebook handles of the European Union and the United Kingdom, and found no formal statement to ascertain the said assertion.
Dr. Morie Komba Manyeh, Sierra Leone’s High Commissioner, heading the West African nation’s Embassy in the United Kingdom, has since debunked the viral claim.
A local fact-checking hub in the country, SLAJ IVerify, has also fact-checked the viral post, noting thus: “There is no official evidence supporting the claim.”
Conclusion
DUBAWA’s investigations found that no official statements from the EU or the UK support the viral claim that Sierra Leonean nationals have been sanctioned from visa privileges for failing to extradite Jos Leijjdekers, rendering the assertion “false.”
