Police Declares Abdul Rahim Salifu Mansaray Wanted

According to sources close to the main opposition party, APC, one of their loyalists, a youth coordinator at Dwarzark, Abdul Rahim Salifu Mansaray, residing at 117 George Brook, Dwarzark, Freetown, has been a subject of harassment and arrests on multiple occasions on trumped up allegations since 2018 to date.
The party expressed concerns that the government had, on various occasions of riots and tensions, blamed their party, and had targeted their members, often locking them up in inhumane conditions on unfounded allegations.

In the case of Abdul Rahim Salifu Mansaray, he has been arrested and confined in police custody for weeks with no charges since 2018. Family members corroborated the claims of arrests made by the APC party, furthering that during the protest of 10 August 2022, which was undertaken by citizens across the country over the cost of living, Abdul Rahim Salifu Mansaray participated in the said peaceful protest that unfortunately turned violent due to the intervention of the Sierra Leone police and army. During the chaos, he was arrested along with many others, beaten and locked up in inhumane conditions. He sustained injuries to both feet and suffered from pain on his right knee.

According to our sources, Abdul Rahim Salifu Mansaray’s health condition was deteriorating while in police custody and had to be taken to the police hospital at Kingtom for medical treatment. It was further revealed that while in the hospital, he took advantage of a diversion of attention from him to an emergency that was brought into the hospital of some injured police officers, Abdul Rahim managed to escape from the hospital through the back door.

Family members say that they got to know about his escape when security officers stormed their house looking for him. They furthered that since that day, they have not had peace. The security forces conducted regular raids on their house threatening to kill them if they discover that they are hiding him.
They express fear for their lives, disclosing that even ruling party youths have regularly threatened to burn their house. This threat was fueled by pronouncement by President Bio on state radio that all the protesters were terrorists.

Apprehensive family members stated that their house became a regular target for police raids, and that they have been under constant threats of attack by ruling party operatives, who often turn up at their residence in the company of armed security forces. They maintained that since his arrest on that fateful day, they have not seen Abdul, but heard that he had fled to the northern city of Makeni, a known stronghold of the main opposition party (APC), adding that security forces have raided the town and even shot dead a prominent blogger of the opposition party in broad daylight. As things stand, with the current situation in Makeni, many opposition party members have gone into hiding and there whereabouts unknown.

However, as we go to press, the whereabouts of Abdul Rahim Salifu Mansaray are still unknown, while his family continue to face harassment.