By Saidu Turay
A succession of arrests have occurred in Freetown and the provinces as a result of the November 26th, 2023 coup attempt.
The security apparatus has also filed a number of arrest warrants for persons they believe are directly involved in the coup. One such warrant is for Emmanuel Victor Wilson, a humanitarian worker of 4 Samura Drive Kissy Mess Mess for operating a WhatsApp group that the authority linked to the November 26 Coup attempt.
Police alleged that the WhatsApp group named “One Family” is an opposition hub where people were recruited to join the coup and according to them, Emmanuel was one of the group’s admins.
Reports say popular Adebayor, a notorious opposition youth who is said to have spearheaded most unrest against the Government, is a key member of the group.
Among those police have recently enlisted for arrest include opposition youth leader Emmanuel Victor Wilson of Kissy Mess Mess, James Bangura (a.k.a Street Life), Alusine Samura (a.ka. Bomb Blast), Amidu Fofanah, to name but a few.
Already, fifty-seven individuals allegedly linked to the attempted coup have been arrested following the breaking of Sierra Leone’s Maximum Correctional Centre in Freetown with 2000 inmates let loose.
Of this number, thirty-seven are soldiers, eleven are civilians, four are military personnel dismissed from the army, five are active police officers and one is retired.
Reports indicated that all of the prisoners had been freed after Pademba Road Maximum Prison was attacked. Video footage shared online showed some of the prisoners walking along the streets. In one footage, the jailed rapper, LAJ, was seen walking alongside a group of young men thought to be some of the freed prisoners.
President Julius Maada Bio has since said the response to the events would be dictated by “respect for the law”.
In the early hours of November 26, 2023, men attacked a military armoury, two other barracks, two prisons and two police stations, and clashed with security forces at gunpoint.
According to Information Minister Chernor Bah, the fighting between the assailants and the Sierra Leone security apparatus left 21 dead: 14 soldiers, a police officer, a prison guard, a security guard, a woman and three attackers.