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Sierra Leone is still in shock after the Sunday, Nov. 26th, violent attack and the freeing of prisoners. A group raided the armoury at Wilberforce Barracks and proceeded to attack the army headquarters at Cockerill, the Joint Logistic Unit at Murray Town and the prison.
The incident has led to many speculations. At least two days after the incident, the government of Sierra Leone held a press conference updating the public about the series of events surrounding the Nov. 26 attacks. In attendance were the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), the Inspector General of Police and the Head of the Correctional Service.
What we know so far
The Sunday attack has now been officially described as an attempted coup. “We are investigating an attempted coup, which failed,” Inspector General of Police William Fayia Sellu said. Recounting the events of Sunday, Mr Sellu said, “A group of unknown assailants tried to unseat a legitimate government illegally.”
The government has been careful about its choice of words since the incident on Sunday. The Minister of Information, Mohamed C. Bah, said in a BBC interview that security forces will have to determine the threshold for a coup.
Speaking about the safety of the armoury, the CDS said, “We don’t have a CCTV camera there, that I will admit, that is a lesson we have learnt.”
The CDS admitted some weapons had been stolen after the raid but could not confirm the details. Responding to questions from journalists, he said (1:04:00 – 1:05:05): “I cannot give you the exact figures now, but once we go through, I will give you the figures.”
The CDS response comes days after the armoury was raided. The Minister of Information added, “What is more important is that the military has been transparent throughout this process. They don’t want to give you information that is not verified.”
“As it is, we are still mopping up. Yesterday, we conducted a hot pursuit to chase the assailants. We were at Orugu and recovered two vehicles with arms and ammunition that they carted away. We recovered three RPGs, six bombs, and 15 AK47 rifles,” CDS Peter Lavahun said.
The recovery of the weapons suggests the extent of the security breach at Wilberforce.
Prison break
Male Correction Centre, also known as Pademba Road Prison, is the biggest in the country. Col. Sheik Sulaiman Massaquoi said on the day of the attack, they had 1,919 inmates. However, other prisoners were held in different facilities within a one-mile radius. The Female Correctional Centre and the Male Rehabilitation Centre are two other separate facilities run by the Sierra Leone Correctional Service. All of these facilities were under attack, and the prisoners were let out.
We now know that, in total, there were 2,213 inmates in all these facilities combined, according to Col. Massaquoi, who is in charge of the country’s prison. Among the escapees were military and police officers who were arrested in August this year for allegedly planning a coup.
But there has been progress. Maasaquoi said some prisoners were returning voluntarily to hand themselves in. Among them is popular rapper LAJ, who is serving a 9-year sentence for robbery and assault.
Col. Massaqoui said that as of Tuesday afternoon, they had 144 returnees to the Male Correctional Centre, which held over a thousand inmates. 16 female prisoners out of 100 have also returned, and 16 from the male reintegration centre have returned voluntarily, out of 100 that escaped. Two of the 14 detained for allegations of plotting a coup have also returned.
CDS Peter Lavahun said they are doing mop-up operations to arrest the escapees and capture the remaining assailants. A bounty of Le50,000 ($2000) has been announced for information leading to the capture of any assailant, while Le10,000 ($400) has been set aside for information leading to the capture of any escaped prisoner.
How many were arrested or killed?
“We now know that 14 RSLAF (Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces) officers lost their lives, one police officer, one correctional officer, three assailants, and one civilian who is part of a private security firm have been confirmed dead. Another woman has been confirmed dead, but we are still trying to understand how it was connected,” Minister Bah said.
So far, officials announced that 14 people have been arrested; thirteen are military officers, and one is a civilian.
While most of these deaths are clear, the circumstances behind the demise of a Canadian citizen who was also a local journalist in Sierra Leone are unclear. Stephen Douglas reportedly had a heart attack on Sunday morning around Congo Cross. He was then rushed to 34 Military Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
The Minister of Information and some military sources say he died of a heart attack. But that is now inconclusive after BBC journalist Umaru Fofana reported that they saw blood on Steven’s body.
“We are going to request for a postmortem, and that cause of death will now give us pointers into what actually happened. We have already started the process, and we are in touch with the consul, Macaulay. We have already written to the Chief Medical Officer, so Dr Owizz will do the PM by tomorrow (Wednesday),” IGP Sellu said.
Who is the culprit?
Military officials have been cautious not to directly blame anyone yet. However, the head of the military, Lt. General Lavahun, said early signs pointed to people associated with the former president, Ernest Koroma.
He said: “Some of these people are guards of the former President. Leatherboot, Sorieba and others, but we will continue to investigate until we get to a logical conclusion. We have seen the press release from the former President.”
Mr Koroma continued that he wouldn’t conclusively say they have enough to tie this to the former President directly. “It could be that they acted on their own,” he said. While insisting that they will continue with an internal investigation.
The opposition All Peoples Congress have already released a statement debunking the connection some have started making while also condemning the attack.
As all of this goes on, Freetoniana is still on edge with uncertainty about what happens next, knowing that a lot of the assailants, including prisoners, are still on the run. On Tuesday, mop-up operations left people scared in Murray Town, where gunshot exchanges were heard. The Minister of Information later confirmed that officers were arresting a suspect when he fired on them, so they had to return fire, disarm and arrest the suspect.
“The situation is now under control. I was at Murray Town personally to check for myself before coming here for this press conference. Be rest assured that you can go about your normal business,” Bah said during the presser.
His assurances have not been enough so far for many, as residents in Jui reported gunshots all night on Tuesday night. Meanwhile, curfew continues; however, the time has been adjusted to start from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Nov. 28th.
