Nightwatch is not casting aspersions on Yankuba Bio, the Director-General of the Sierra Leone Ports and Harbour Authority (SLPHA) rather, we are concerned and therefore is asking whether the spate of media reactions he has lately engaged in to apparently clear his name of any blame in the cocaine saga that has engulfed this country lately is anything to go by?
There is no gainsaying the fact that he is head of the country’s sea port and in charge of the handling of ships and their cargoes into Sierra Leone. No doubt, according to reports by his media handlers that since his appointment by the President, “he has made Sierra Leone’s principal maritime gateway, the Ports of Freetown to be recognized as one of the top performing container ports of Africa in 2022 and 2023, according to the Container Port Performing Index.”
What we are concerned about is how have these stack of cocaine such as the quantity that was seized on board the Sierra Leone Embassy vehicle last month by Guinean security personnel did get into the country’s mainland if not via the country’s seaport?
There have been a couple of arrests and seizures by the country’s security forces of chemicals for example that are much related with the manufacture of Kush such as the huge consignment arrested and seized by the police at Mile 38 or it immediate surrounding after the containers suspected to be carrying those crooked substances had been duly cleared at the Queen Elizabeth II Quay at Cline Town. Similarly, there had been reports of suspected drug-laden containers that had been surreptitiously cleared and removed from the Quay and taken to some hideout and amid public cries, were clandestinely offloaded and reloaded with frozen foodstuffs.
Mr. Bio could be a good administrator, but he may not be a good watchdog over the avalanche of clandestine activities taken place at the Quay of which he the Director-General. By all indications therefore and as principles demand, any investigation into the entry of such narcotics into the country, should recluse him as the man in charge.
Nightwatch believes that no amount of investigation could be complete and considered free, fair and transparent if the one man charged with responsibility of ensuring the sanctity of our principal maritime entry, is not part of such investigation. That is more the reason that we are calling on the investigation panel at the Office of National Security (ONS) in the Office of the President to drag in Mr. Yankuba Bio regardless of his connection with the President or otherwise, into this investigation to ascertain the “how” these narcotic have pervaded the country’s jurisdiction and to actually determine whether they are entering into the country by some mystical means, or via our seaport.
The country’s image is already on a thin line and as citizens; it would be foolhardy to let certain individuals off the hook at the expense of the country’s sovereign integrity. We are already being eye-marked by our sister country Guinea as a drugs transshipment destination and a hub for the distribution of drugs into their country; the huge quantity of cocaine caught in our Embassy vehicle right inside their territorial jurisdiction is a clear case in point.
There is no need to establish evidence against Mr. Bio and there is no need to accuse him of any involvement as at now. What is important however, and could stare up suspicion is, if he is not investigated to ascertain his involvement or not in the drug trafficking racket that appears to have been established in this country in the past few years.
Mr. Yankuba Bio must not be a sacred cow nor should he be unjustly vilified. But he should be thoroughly investigated because he is head of the country’s seaport and harbour handling facilities. If there has been any malpractice that could tantamount to disregarding certain strict container checking and examination guidelines resulting into the letting off duly suspected cargoes including containers or anything with the capacity of carrying contraband materials especially drugs, it must be made known to the investigation panel and where Mr. Bio and his officials are found wanting, of course they should be dealt with “seriously according to law” in the words of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
The law in this sense is not a friend to anyone who blatantly infringes it in any manner or form and indeed, no one is above the law.
Every Sierra Leonean is having their eyes and hears on this investigation led by the ONS. The people’s thinking is that it must not be conducted with any bias and with no political consideration. The embarrassment the Guinea –Cocaine arrest incident has caused is not just for the government of President Julius Maada Wonie Bio or his Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) it is a national embarrassment and a national shame that impugns on the country’s image.
The world is very reticent about drugs in particular cocaine and countries that had earlier been notorious for its production or transshipment have been since been faced with the wrath of international reactions with some being blacklisted and rendered Pariah. We cannot afford to watch our country being dragged into such a cesspit of international disregard and disrespect. Who should suffer the brunt either because of their direct dealings or neglect or nonchalance of their responsibility must be smoked out in order to save the name of the land that we love, Sierra Leone? Nothing more, nothing less!
We strongly believe that there is no smoke without fire and that for Mr. Bio to orchestrate such a cascade of media tantrums in his defense even when the torch of the ONS investigation has not been flashed to his direction is a source of concern. If a man smells his hands anytime he places them on a surface, he is not surface of the cleanliness or the purity of that surface. That is what we think could be behind the mad rush to clear and defend the name of the Director-General of the Sierra Leone Ports and Harbour Authority (SLPHA), so soon and with some sort of a demining threat of litigation.
With these, we are not smearing the name of Mr. Yankuba Bio; rather, we are simply asking: will this smoke that Mr. Bio himself has bellowed in his attempt to clear his name in the wake of a government investigation into a matter that is not yet conclusive, set ablaze a fire? Or could it also be a preemptive distraction tactics? The ONS-led investigation must tell the nation.