POLICE DECLARE ABU BAKARR SESAY, FUGITIVE
August10times-sierraleone.com
Reports reaching this medium state that one Abu Bakarr Sesay, who was an underground foot soldier for the APC party, was among the protesters during the 10th August 2022 demonstration that turned violent and resulted in the deaths of six police officers and some 35 civilians.
According to Police sources, a well-known Sierra Leonean by the name of Adabayoh, living abroad, has been spreading inciting messages calling on Sierra Leoneans living in Sierra Leone to stage a protest, and according to intelligence gathered by the police, Abu Bakarr Sesay, who lives in the Eastern part of Freetown, was among those alleged to have spearheaded his call for protest in the country. It is against this backdrop and his apparent involvement in the said riot that has prompted the high command to declare him ‘Wanted’ by the Sierra Leone Police in connection with the August 10th, 2022 violent protest.
According to an investigation mounted by this medium in respect of the said matter, it was alleged by family sources that Abu Bakarr Sesay was part of the Youths who staged the Protest on that day, and that on their way to the State House, he was arrested and beaten by the Presidential Security guards, and taken to the Police Station for questioning and later sent to the Sierra Leone Operational Support Division (BENGAZY).
Sources disclosed that while at the said Sierra Leone Police Operational Support Division custody, some protesters stormed the facility, taking advantage of the reduced presence of the armed guards at the facility, who were deployed across the country to quel the violence, and broke open police cells, releasing Abu Bakarr Sesay and others from police custody.
Known ruling party youths living in the community, informed the police about seeing Abu and others in the company of the marauding gang, leaving the ransacked police facility.
However, during engagement with Abu’s family, it was revealed that Abu Bakarr Sesay never returned home after the August 10th, 2022 demonstration. They furthered that on that fateful day (in the night), some armed security personnel, in the company of armed youths (armed with machetes, sticks, guns, and knives), alighted from a government security jeep that had no registration number (averting identification), and threateningly forced their way into the house, breaking down the front door. Family members explained to this writer that they were all forced to sit on the floor, whilst the officers and the youths searched the entire house for Abu Bakarr Sesay, but to no avail.
They furthered that they were beaten and threatened with death if they failed to produce Abu Bakarr Sesay. After turning the entire house upside down and unable to find Abu, the armed security forces informed them that they would return and would not relent until they find him.
A friend of Abu Bakarr Sesay, who spoke to this medium basis of anonymity, said that since Abu Bakarr Sesay left his house on the 10th of August 2022, he sheltered him for a while in his own house, adding that Abu Bakarr Sesay left his house, as there were indications that the security forces had embarked on a house-to-house search for him, including homes of known friends. He admitted that Abu confided in him that he (Abu) is a supporter of the main opposition party in the community. He explained that what had been the norm immediately after the riot was that the security forces, in the company of ruling party youths and thugs, were raiding homes of known opposition supporters, as well as members of the ‘Love Salone Lef Bad Heart’ group, a group believe to be ardent supporters of the riot instigator in Holland, arresting them and, in some cases, taking them to unknown places. Some of them have not returned and are feared dead. He added that since Abu Bakarr Sesay left his house his whereabouts are unknown.
Family members also said that since Abu Bakarr Sesay left the house, he has not returned, nor do they know his whereabouts. They fear for his life, especially as there is news of people being summarily executed by a combined force of police and military, known to be ruling party loyalists, in reprisal for their alleged involvement in the August 10th, 2022 demonstration.
Our investigation further revealed that a lot of supporters and members of ‘Love Salone left Bad Heart’ and supporters of the main opposition party were targeted, some killed and dumped in unregistered government jeeps and taken away to unknown locations. In the case of Abu Bakarr Sesay, Times SL Investigation uncovered that he was an openly active member of the opposition. He has been declared wanted because of a political witch hunt and is alleged to be associated with ‘Love Salone left Bad Heart.’ As the media pressed the police to comment on the arrest and disappearances of those youths, the media officer of the police explained that a list of wanted persons had been put up and that there were also others that they were looking for, and would not relent until they are arrested and brought to justice.
In his comment on the riot of 10th August 2022, President Bio told the international media (BBC) that the protesters were terrorists and that the main opposition party was behind the entire episode. This, many see, as the reason for the indiscriminate attacks, killings, and arrests of known opposition party members and supporters. The police have put a bounty on the heads of the people they are looking for, and as we go to press, the whereabouts of Abu Bakarr Sesay are still unknown, and family members are afraid that he may have been killed.
Furthermore, many relatives of people killed during the riots by the security forces have not been able to identify their loved ones at the country’s main mortuary, as the facility is under heavy police and military protection.