Police have detained six individuals believed to be behind the fatal stabbing of Reverend Father Augustine Dauda Amadu, a Catholic priest serving in Kenema, security officials said Tuesday.
Brima Kanneh, the outgoing Assistant Inspector General of Police for the Southern Region, told Classic Radio that the investigation was “robust and fast-tracked.” He added that while several suspects remain at large, law enforcement is committed to ensuring all individuals involved are brought to justice. 
The suspects are suspected members of a criminal gang believed to have carried out a series of violent robberies across Kenema. On August 28, the gang is alleged to have raided the home of businessman Ezekiel Coker, then attacked the residence of NASSIT-South Director John Lamina—who is now hospitalized in Freetown—before turning their attention to Fr. Amadu the following day. 
On the night of August 29, attackers broke into Father Amadu’s parish house in the Burma III neighbourhood of Kenema, using force to enter through a window, according to police and diocesan officials. The assailants stabbed him to death. His body was discovered early the next morning by parishioners arriving for morning Mass.    The Sierra Leone Police confirmed the killing in a statement issued on August 31. 
Father Amadu had served for five years at the Immaculate Conception Parish and was preparing for a farewell Mass ahead of a planned pastoral assignment in Kailahun. His sudden death was widely mourned, prompting condemnation from church leaders and civil society, and raising alarm about rising insecurity in the region.
By Joshua Kawa
