By Alusine Fullah
Sierra Leone’s Inspector General of Police, William Fayia Sellu has on Tuesday 8th August, 2023 updated the public over an alleged failed coup. He stated that the State has made some security improvement across the country in response to the coup attempt.
“We have instituted investigation into it and we did a number of arrests. As at now, we have in our custody eight middle-level (Lieutenant to Major) military men, 6 non-commissioned officers of the army (Private to Sergeant), 2 serving members of the police (1 Sub-Inspector and 1 Constable), 1 Retired Chief Police Superintendent and 2 civilians,” IG Sellu said. He added that the men are in police custody assisting with investigation.
The said failed coup plot took a different turn on Monday when Liberian Police arrested a Retired Sierra Leone Police Superintendent, Mohamed ‘Yeatay Yeatay’ Turay in the capital, Monrovia. Liberian media reported that Turay was among the plotters of an attempted plot to unseat President Julius Maada Bio. On Tuesday afternoon, some military officers from Sierra Leone arrived in Liberia in order to facilitate Turay’s extradition.
The former police officer in question, Chief Superintendent Mohammed Yaetey Turay, had been residing in Liberia since March 2022, following his dismissal from the Sierra Leone Police in May 2020. He was one of several officers who faced dismissals, while others were compelled into retirement. The dismissals had raised concerns and criticism from various quarters, with some attributing them to ethnic differences.
There are some fears among the local position but I.G Sellu allayed their fear admonishing them to go about their normal business. “We have beefed up border security posts by huge margin,” he said. He added that the security sector has also step up their level of intelligence. The Police Chief stated that the new measures are geared towards the security of the State amid an attempted coup last week. He admonished the public to act in unison with the police for the security of the State.
In another development, the Sierra Leone Police has launched a manhunt for eight military and police personnel wanted for alleged subversion of the country’s peace.
For past months, the security sectors in Sierra Leone have been chewing or grappling with critical security issues. One of those critical issues is: the alleged tempted coup.
