Unidentified people attack the military and prisons in Sierra Leone. Is the stability of the West African country at risk?
Unknown perpetrators raided a military weapons depot and several prisons in Sierra Leone, West Africa, on Sunday. There was an exchange of fire in the early hours of the morning at the weapons depot, which is located near the residence of President Julius Maada Bio in the capital Freetown, the information ministry said.
The government then imposed a nationwide curfew and launched a major manhunt for the perpetrators. The situation was said to be under control.
Bio described the incident as a “security breach” but assured his citizens that calm had been restored in the country and that his government was “determined to protect democracy in Sierra Leone.”
Information Minister Cherno Bah later confirmed that the perpetrators had also attacked several detention centers, including a maximum security prison in Freetown. “Some prisoners were kidnapped by the attackers while many others were released,” Bah said. According to Bah, security forces made progress in the search for the attackers on Sunday afternoon. “The government continues to maintain control and an overview of the situation,” said Bah. The situation in the capital is calm.
US embassy condemns attack
The US Embassy in Sierra Leone “strongly condemned” the attack. “Such actions have no justification. We demand full cooperation with the ongoing operations of the government security forces to detain those responsible,” the embassy said in a statement on Platform X.
The European Union representation in Sierra Leone also called for respect for the constitutional order in the country. “There is no justification for the violent occupation of military barracks,” one X post said.
The West African community of states Ecowas said it had “learned with utter disgust of a conspiracy … to obtain weapons and disrupt peace and constitutional order.” The international community reaffirmed its “zero tolerance for unconstitutional changes of government”.
UN Special Representative for West Africa and the Sahel, Leonardo Santos Simão, also condemned the attempt to forcibly seize military facilities in Freetown and welcomed the government’s steps to maintain peace and security.
At the end of June, Bio was re-elected despite a severe economic crisis in the small coastal state with 8.8 million inhabitants. A month later, police arrested several senior officers for preparing a riot. Sierra Leone, which is roughly the size of Bavaria, experienced one of Africa’s worst civil wars from 1991 to 2002 with tens of thousands of deaths. In 2014, an Ebola outbreak plunged the country into another year-long crisis. The economy has not recovered since then. Many people, especially in rural areas, live in extreme poverty.
Bio, who ruled for two months after a military coup in 1996 and helped lead the transition to the first free elections in decades, is revered by many as the country’s “father of modern democracy.” His government, in office since 2018, introduced free education, promoted equality, science and the country’s infrastructure. At the same time, Bio is also criticized for its actions against opponents. More than 20 demonstrators and six police officers were killed in the violent crackdown on protests by state security forces in August.
