Most Leaders Behind Clashes In Sierra Leone Arrested, Says President Bio

Freetown [Sierra Leone]: Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio informed on Sunday that most of the leaders behind the armed attack in the country’s capital that led to a nationwide curfew have been arrested, Al Jazeera reported.

“Most of the leaders have been arrested. Security operations and investigations are ongoing,” President Bio said on national television following armed clashes in Freetown after what the government said was an attack on a military armoury.

The government said it repelled the attack and was in control of the situation. The incident occurred amid months of post-election unrest in the West African nation.

Sierra Leone’s civil aviation authority also urged the airlines to reschedule flights.

Videos posted on social media purportedly showed men in uniform under arrest in the back or beside a military pick-up truck, according to Al Jazeera.

Earlier in the day, the information ministry reported attacks on prisons that obliged the security forces to retreat. “The prisons were thus overrun” with some detainees released and others “abducted”, it said.

The video posted on social networks suggested numerous prisoners had escaped from the central jail.
In a statement issued on Sunday, West Africa’s regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), condemned the attempt to “disturb constitutional order” in Sierra Leone.

Earlier, the authorities in Sierra Leone declared a nationwide curfew on Sunday. This came hours after an unidentified man tried to break into the country’s key military armouries and barracks, The New York Times reported.

Notably, Sierra Leone has seen political violence and unrest since the re-election of President Bio in June, Al Jazeera reported.

That election was the fifth since the end of Sierra Leone’s brutal 11-year civil war – more than two decades ago – which left tens of thousands dead and destroyed the country’s economy.

International observers condemned the “lack of transparency” in the ballot count and Sierra Leone’s opposition party initially disputed the results and boycotted the government.

However, since his electoral victory five months ago, President Bio continues to face criticism because of debilitating economic conditions. Nearly 60 per cent of Sierra Leone’s population of more than 7 million are impoverished and youth unemployment is among the highest in West Africa.

The unrest in Sierra Leone comes after a series of military coups that have dealt blows to democracy in the region. There have been eight military coups in West and Central Africa since 2020, including in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Guinea, Al Jazeera reported.