Dozens of people were killed in clashes that broke out during yesterday’s protests against rising living costs and government policies, police sources and eyewitnesses told Reuters, with the unofficial tally differing dramatically from the official tally. as shocked residents of Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, chose not to even go outside yesterday.
Six police officers and at least 21 civilians were killed, according to these sources.
Hundreds of people took to the streets to protest economic hardship and the government’s inability to stop rising prices and their impact.
Such riots are rare in Sierra Leone, even more so in Freetown. In recent years, deaths in such riots in the country have been few.
Video verified by Reuters shows a police officer firing into a crowd of protesters in Freetown.
Suleiman Tarey, a 19-year-old resident of the eastern part of the capital, briefly joined the protest before police began firing tear gas. He said he later saw protesters being wounded by protesters’ bullets from his porch.
“I think people are shocked. This is not our country as we know it. Sierra Leone is a peaceful country,” he said.
President Julius Maanda Bio promised a “full investigation” into Wednesday’s riots.
Mass demonstrations took place mainly in the capital and in opposition strongholds in the north.
The desperation of the citizens of Sierra Leone has been fueled mainly by the rising prices of staples such as rice, cooking oil and fuel, making things even more difficult for those living on less than $1.9 a day, such as 43% of Sierra Leone’s approximately 7.5 million inhabitants, according to World Bank data.
Despite having a subsoil full of diamonds, Sierra Leone remains one of the least developed countries in the world.
The former British colony of 7.5 million inhabitants had not even overcome the impact of the brutal civil war (1991-2002) and the Ebola epidemic (2014-2016) when it was hit by the new coronavirus pandemic and the consequences of the war in Ukraine.
President Bio on July 1 launched new coins and notes in the west African country, with three fewer zeros than before, to restore confidence amid high inflation.
The war in Ukraine made the everyday life of the residents even more difficult.
After yesterday’s night curfew was imposed, there was an uneasy calm in Freetown yesterday. Shops remained closed and most people at home for fear of further riots.
Internet access was cut for hours last Wednesday and overnight Thursday, according to NetBlocks, a London-based specialist website that routinely tracks outages of this nature around the world.
The initiative for the demonstration was taken by an organization of women in the trade sector, called The Grassroots Women of Salone (s.: Salone is the colloquial name of many Sierra Leoneans for their country). They called for a “peaceful rally” to “draw attention to the economic difficulties and the many other problems affecting women” in the country, according to their letter sent to the police chief and consulted by AFP.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said she was “deeply concerned by reports of many dead and injured” in the unrest in Sierra Leone, and called on the authorities to “immediately conduct a swift, impartial and full investigation into the violent incidents ” and to “facilitate peaceful demonstrations, refraining from disproportionate responses” such as “interrupting internet access or imposing curfews”, according to a press release released by its services.
SOURCE: APE-ME
Source: Capital
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