(Freetown) Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio said Friday night that Wednesday’s deadly riots were aimed at creating an “insurrection” to overthrow the government, blaming the opposition who called for “calm and national cohesion”.
Posted at 6:58 p.m.
“On that day, the peace, security and stability of this Nation was shattered by people whose insurrection was premeditated, well planned, financed and executed with shocking brutality,” President Bio said in a statement. speech to the nation.
” Before the [mercredi] August 10, they severely identified themselves on social media,” the Sierra Leonean leader said, citing members of opposition formations like “the warriors of the APC,” the former ruling party. , and the People’s Progressive Party (PPP).
“Politicians have created tensions and threats to make the country ungovernable,” he added.
According to him, “it was not a demonstration against the cost of living. The chanting of the insurgents was aimed at a violent overthrow of the democratically elected government,” continued Mr. Bio, elected in April 2018.
He promised an investigation and announced official funerals for security personnel killed in the riots in at least three towns in Sierra Leone, including the capital Freetown.
The APC expressed “its concern at the wave of violence in Freetown and other towns in the provinces which have caused the loss of life of compatriots” on Wednesday, in a press release published Friday evening, after President Bio’s speech, without reference to.
“As a party, we reaffirm and strengthen our commitment to lasting peace and national cohesion,” the statement added, calling for respect for the law.
The APC recalled that the law guarantees the freedom to organize a peaceful demonstration, and called on all parties to “de-escalate tensions and avoid inflammatory speeches and unfounded statements”.
At least four members of the security forces were killed in these demonstrations and several police stations were vandalized, according to the police. Civilians were also killed, according to the same source, during these disturbances which were also marked by a suspension of the Internet.
A curfew from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. is maintained until further notice.
The initiative for the protest came from a group of women traders, ‘The Grassroots Women of Salone’, who called a ‘peaceful rally’ to ‘draw attention to economic hardship’. The demonstration then turned into a riot.
Despite a soil rich in diamonds, Sierra Leone is one of the least developed countries in the world.
The former British colony and its 7.5 million people were still recovering from a brutal 1991-2002 civil war and the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa when they were hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and then by the consequences of the war in Ukraine.