By Amin Kef Sesay
During a Press Conference held at the Police Headquarters on George Street on the 5th May 2021 it was disclosed that Eight (8) Police Officers have been suspended and undergoing investigations for various allegations including unlawful discharge of fire arm, mob justice, illegal detention and incitement among others.
The officers include the four happy trigger Operational Support Division (OSD) personnel that allegedly shot and killed the late Alpha Kargbo aka ‘One Derda’ at Hastings Village, Abu Bakar Bangura who was caught on social media video hitting a lady’s head with a gun magazine, Inspector Mohamed Agama Kamara who sprayed a pepper spray on MPs during a scuffle at the Well of Parliament, Constable James .M. Kamara who detained a suspect for four days without taking statement from him and one Inspector who went to the Road Safety Authority during the commercial Motorbike Riders berserk to create incitement
Dilating on the suspension, Director of Community and Gender Affairs of the SLP, AIG Mustapha Kamara, explained that the fate of these officers now hangs in a balance, confirming that they are not only under suspension but are being investigated.
He however pointed out that during the recent riots, some police officers were also targeted and seriously injured by irate youths especially the commercial motorbike riders.
“Police stations were destroyed, officers seriously injured and police bikes burnt down. We did not see or hear anyone from the public sympathizing with us or condemning the act of the youths,” AIG Kamara lamented noting that the public only focus on the excesses of the Police.
Any organization, he said, has some bad elements and the Police is not an exception.
Recruitment into the SLP, he furthered, is not based on knowledge on the individual character but on qualification stressing that the Police is the true replica of any society “when society is lawless, the Police would also be lawless” he said.
The Community Affairs Director went on to underscore that human beings by nature do not want to be regulated, noting that the only thing that control a man is the fear of the law.
He disclosed that the Sierra Leone Police is looking at a training package that will help mould the conducts and professionalism of officers in riot and public disorder response.
