African Union (AU) peace-keepers of the Sierra Leone Police based in Somalia have been banned from returning to Sierra Leone owing to the Spiralling Corona virus epidemic.
April 16, was the date set aside for the return of the peace-keepers had situation remained normal.
The peace keepers known as the Formed Police Unit comprising personnel of the Operations Support Division left Sierra Leone on a peace-keeping mission in Somalia.
Corona virus is the deadliest and most contagious known to mankind. Its mode of transmission seems uncontrollable. It is outstretching the resources of countries across the world.
The government ban, according to a source in Somalia, is indefinite and has become a constant source of worry for the peace keepers.
“I am worried for now as I want to see my family after a long time in a foreign land. For now we cannot tell when we should come back home,” the source said.
No case has been recorded in Somalia, but, Kenya a close neighbour has recorded one with the risk of spreading fast.
It is on this ground, the source said; government banned them from returning to Sierra Leone as of now.
The source, however, informed Nightwatch that visits to Kenya by AU peace keepers are frequent.
Considering the contagious nature of the corona virus, the likelihood of contracting it is high.
Since its outbreak almost two months back, Corona virus has wreaked the most havoc in China where the first case was recorded.
The Virus is spreading fast throughout European and, Asian and African countries with an official figure of 134, 500 infections with over a thousand deaths according to BBC media link.
As the Virus spreads, governments scratch their heads to ward off the virus.
Closure of borders and imposition of curfew among others are the primary methods adopted by nations to fight the virus.
Most times, restrictions of internal and international movements of citizens are most popular methods.
This is not the first time Sierra Leone has banned its peace keepers from entering the country when a contagious virus strikes.
A contingent of Sierra Leone UN peacekeepers based in in Darfur, South Sudan were stopped from returning to Sierra Leone at the height of Ebola between 2014 and 2016.
The peace keepers continued their duty for the next two years. They returned home after the lapse of two years when Sierra Leone was declared Ebola-free.
The country for now has recorded no case of Corona virus, but its neighbours, Guinea and Liberia have.
However, Measures are being put in place to keep the country safe from the virus.
In his strive to prevent Corona virus entering Sierra Leone, President Bio has met former officials of the defunct Emergency Operation Centre and the United Nations Mission on Ebola response to tap their expertise.