Questions about how the drug baron, Jos Leijdekkers relates to Sierra Leone’s first family is not uncommon among the public.
Local and international idea also discuss it too, and it is also topical among higher quarters.
Such questions about the drug lord’s stay in Sierra Leone started filtering through the public when a video on media platforms shows Leijdekkers attending a church service at Tihun village, in Southern Sierra Leone, the home of President Julius Maada Bio.
Sierra Leone’s First Lady, Fatima Jabbie-Bio is said to have published the video on facebook, an act she has insistently denied during media interviews.
The First Lady has also denied ever knowing Leijdekkers and has never interacted with him. “I don’t know him,” First Lady said in an interview, but the video tells a fact contrary to her story.
Leijdekkers also known as Bolle Jos sat close to the first family in the church with the daughter of the President sitting close to him on the right. The close seating accommodation in the church even raised new waves of suspicion among many Sierra Leoneans.
Several media investigations have confirmed that Leijdekkers is married to the President’s daughter and therefore share an in-law relationship with the presidency.
The drug lord is also shown on media platforms to have been lending a hand in the harvest of the President’s farm in Southern Sierra Leone.
The farm is part of an effort to actualise the ‘Feed Salone’ initiative since agriculture is the flagship for President Bio in his second term. While canvassing for votes ahead of the 2023 election, the President promised to strengthen agriculture and provide food security for the nation.
But, critics liken the ‘Feed Salone’ initiative to the much-trumpeted “Free Quality Education” in Sierra Leone which many see as a failed project.
Treading on a similar path, it is also popularly argued that the whole business of ‘Feed Salone’ is to grow the weed for the manufacture and export of drugs to various parts of the world. The debate still continues.
In Sierra Leone, he took the name Umaro Sheriff apparently to show that he is a Sierra Leonean so that he could ply his trade without hindrance.
But, little is known about Leijdekkers throughout his stay in Sierra Leone as he allegedly enjoys the backing of the state.
Credible media institutions sharing their findings with Nightwatch press assert that Bolle Jos is under tight police protection in Sierra Leone.
A Dutch journalist who attempted to dig into Bolle’s hideout here in Sierra Leone was arrested and briefly detained before deported.
The Local journalist, Joseph Kamara who acted as fixer in the investigation of the Bolle Jos’s hideout in Sierra Leone is on the run after his escape from police arrest.
Bolle Jos’s presence in Sierra Leone became one of the hottest topics for discussion when EU raised the red flag about his drug lordism, and its impact on Europe and the US.
Bolle Jos is being portrayed by local and international media as one of Europe’s most wanted drug Lord after trial and conviction in absentia.
Leijdekkers faces about 60 years of imprisonment owing to his barrage of convictions and sentences handed down by different courts in Europe.
The Dutch authorities have approached the government in Sierra Leone for an extradition of the fugitive criminal back home.
But, the government has repeatedly informed the Dutch government that the drug lord is not harboured in Sierra Leone although foreign media have continuously insisted that the drug lord is here in Sierra Leone. Government spokesman, Alpha Kanu, quite lately, denied the presence of Bolle Jos’s stay in Sierra Leone. He also opposed any attempt by Europe to invade the sovereignty of Sierra Leone by forcefully arresting the drug lord. For him, Europe is only attempting to be at loggerheads with Sierra Leone over an allegation without any support.
New evidence about Bolle’s Cocaine trade emerged when drug traffickers fell in police net in Qatar and other countries in the world.
Two of the suspects claim to be the younger brothers of Leijdekkers whose presence in Sierra Leone and interaction with the First Family is being publicly discussed and debated.
Passports held by the arrested drug lords show that they are diplomatic and they got them from the Sierra Leone government. With such noble passports, the drug lords can enjoy the largesse of state power and can criss-cross national boundaries without any restriction.
The suspects who were trapped by the Qatari government are now in custody helping the police in their investigation with focus on a move to arrest Bolle Jos.
The presidency is also linked to the issuance of diplomatic passports to drug lords as only State House has the legitimate authority to endorse and issue such passports.
In the course of the media and public debates, it became clear that the diplomatic passports were first issued by past government led by Ernest Bai Koroma. To set the records straight, former Chief Immigration Officer, Alpha Kholifa Koroma took to media platforms explaining about the issuance of diplomatic passports to people who do not deserve them.
However, the current government is no difference as it treads on the same path in the handling of diplomatic passports.
Unconvinced about government’s narrative, the Dutch government reportedly recently mobilised security forces to get the drug lord out of Sierra Leone to serve his jail term.
Many Sierra Leoneans say Europe has a point in pointing accusing fingers at Sierra Leone government for supporting drug activities in Sierra Leone. The arrest of a Sierra Leonean diplomat, Ambassador Alimamy Bangura in neighbouring Guinea also testified to the harbouring of drug lords in Sierra Leone. The arrest of the diplomat further worsened relationship between Guinea and Sierra Leone, countries struggling with an unresolved border dispute.
The belief that the drug lord is in Sierra Leone was also bolstered when youths linked to the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) raised the issue of the long-awaited extradition of the social media ventriloquist, Abdul Will Kamara aka Adebayor who is also equally accused to have committed serious crimes in Sierra Leone.
Investigations show that Abdul Will Kamara went to Holland on an asylum-seeking mission in that part of the world. He registered as a civil society activist advocating the rights of Sierra Leoneans at home and in the diaspora, a platform he successfully used to rain insults on various personalities including senior government officials.
Through social media platforms especially Whatsapp, Adebayor has incited protest and riots which authorities say are brutal and deadly with the August 10, 2022 standing out.
The riots which governments referred to as an insurrection claimed the lives of 33 Sierra Leoneans including six police personnel who died while active duty to push back the rioters.
Sierra Leone government, from that time, has called on the Dutch government to extradite Adebayor to face trial for crimes authorities say are serious. In such situation, it should be a swap of fugitive criminals between Sierra Leone and Netherlands.
But, political analysts and commentators have always argued that the two situations are different.
Drug manufacturing and trafficking are serious crimes than incitement to riots and protests although the extradition request was first made by Sierra Leone. Some Sierra Leoneans say that government will send the drug lord to Netherlands only if Adebayor is brought home.
But, discussions and debates about the relationship of Leijdekkers to the presidency goes unabated.