*ECOMOG?
*Renegades?
*Runaway Prisoners?
*Protesters?
In a widely shared video on media platforms, President Julius Maada Bio spoke directly to the nation that “you come with bullet, you will meet bullet.”
Sounding emphatic and prepared to face any threat, Bio assured SLPP (Sierra Leone People’s Party) members that “anyone who come with bullets will be repelled with bullets” making reference to the November 26/23 attacks in which close to 30 renegades and loyal troops including a Lieutnant Colonel lost their lives.
Almost all former aides to ex-President Ernest Bai Koroma including Idriss Hamid Kamara aka Leather Boot were brutally murdered in the onslaught.
Without any hesitation, President Bio adds that others trapped in the carnage “did not leave to tell the story.” Indeed most of those arrested are languishing behind bars as the trial appears more protracted.
Much ink has been spilled and several views expressed since the President made the declaration few days ago, but there is a big debate about who the President suspect will bring bullets to the country.
One side of the argument holds that the President Bio is sending hints to the ECOWAS Mission for Sierra Leone (ECOMSIL) troops that are about to be deployed in Sierra Leone while the other side holds he was hinting at either the renegades, runaway prisoners or would-be protesters.
Really, the argument that President Bio is sending such message to the ECOWAS troops appears to be weightier than the others.
In few days, the troops will land in Sierra Leone with bullets (arms and ammunition) as a stabilisation force to support local security forces (the police and the army).
According to police and army officials, the troops are here to keep the country’s peace by responding to security threats from whatever source.
Police crowd control units will also form part of ECOMOG troops that will deploy in Freetown as well as in the provinces to beef up security in the country.
It is also clear that the police unit will help the local forces on road blocks and could even deploy in police stations to oversee day-to-day policing as it was the case in Sierra Leone’s immediate post-war period when UN peace-keeping troops were deployed at checkpoints and various police stations across the country to consolidate security.
To stabilise a country that is less stable is no easy ride as such venture requires arms and ammunition including heavy artillery which could be used if the need arises.
Such is the mandate of the foreign troops that will be parachuted in Sierra Leone in days to instill hope in Sierra Leoneans and the government that the country is safe. No more killing, harassment and intimidation of opposition politicians and supporters and government officials too would be protected.
Although the mandate of the ECOWAS troops is to stabilise, the mission could change to peace enforcement if flare-ups occur.
President Bio, few months ago, was at loggerheads with the sub-regional bloc, ECOWAS (Economic Community Of West African States) over the arrest and detention of ex-President Koroma in respect of an attempted coup.
The arrest was a big threat to state security owing to the ever-growing popularity of the former President. To prevent Sierra Leone from the slide into another conflict, two West African leaders, ex-Senegalese and Ghanian Presidents Macky Sall and Nana Akufor Addo respectively met Bio at State House to negotiate the release of the former President from detention and that all matters against him be dropped, his benefits and gratuities paid and his assets secured in his absence.
President Bio initially accepted but later turned down the request after the two Presidents left and the visit of the ECOWAS Commission President, Dr Allieu Touray could not change government’s stance as the ex-President was humbled in a magistrate court in Freetown on four counts of treason.
Sierra Leone would have gone into flames had Koroma appeared for the second time before the court.
The Nigerian troops however played a great role in airlifting the former President to Nigeria to ensure that Sierra Leone is safe, a move that signaled what was to come.
If a spade is to be called a spade, one would be correct and safe to say that Sierra Leone is a fragile or volatile state as protest if not riots is imminent at any time, and the local forces with their poor crowd control units could easily pull the trigger further worsening an already polarised situation.
Sierra Leone became fragile state immediately after 2018 elections evidenced by the visit of the Commissioner on states’ fragility, ex-British Prime Minister, David Cameron. The country saw somewhat cumbersome political transition forcing President Bio to be sworn in at a hotel in Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown instead of the usual and recognised avenue, State House.
Such cumbersome political transitions are not peculiar to Sierra Leone since incumbents especially their followers are not ready to go. It is the case with the Gambia in 2016 where erstwhile President Yayah Jammeh was in no mood to hand over power to the opposition leader, Adama Barrow who was declared winner of the election. Similar situation also showcased in Zambia where the incumbent, Edgar Lungu was not ready to give up power to the opposition leader, Hakainde Hichilema.
It is also the case with Sierra Leone’s political situation where an incumbent still holds the forte after local and international election observation missions indicated that the electoral process “lacked transparency.”
The voters have made repeated attempts to take back their votes in the forms of protests and demonstrations, but iron-fisted men have stopped them with heavy casualties or fatalities.
However, the struggle to bring back stolen votes is not yet over as it is being mooted at several quarters that another massive demonstration awaits the Bio regime, but others call it an uprising.
In the ensuing debate, President Bio’s claims of bringing bullets to Sierra Leone could also mean the renegades who escaped with arms and ammunition after overrunning police and military armouries in November, last year. Reason for the attacks also was not known but many said poor welfare of the security forces in the face of growing hardship was the cause of the attacks.
The weapons carted away could not be quantified in exact numerical terms and the number of police and army personnel taken to the jungle also remains unknown. The act, according to Sierra Leonean laws, is treasonable despite legitimacy crisis confronting the Bio regime, and there was no way the renegades could stay in town fearing reprisals from the government. In several videos and audios, the renegades continue to threaten that they would hit back at any time but yet to show the exact time.
Threats of attacks by the renegades brought back the memories of the West Side Boys who fled to Okra Hills in early 1998 following the restoration of President Ahmed Tejan Kabba. Kabba was ousted from power in May, 1997 by young army officers owing to a complete neglect of welfare, a situation that forced the soldiers to join ranks with the RUF (Revolutionary United Front) fighters.
From the Okra Hills, the renegades would launch bloody armed raids and banditry on vehicles who fell in their ambush lines while
Others seriously tortured.
The renegades’ banditry and thuggery reached its climax seen in the invasion of Freetown in January, 1999 where they caused heavy destruction to lives and property.
It was a quite tough moment for the highly trained ECOMOG (ECOWAS Monitoring Group) soldiers under the command of experienced officers for allowing disorganised bands of combatants to overrun them although they successfully and completely repelled them in two weeks.
The ‘West Side Boys’ phenomenon however came to an end when the British SAS (Special Air Service) troops attacked their strongholds and permanently dislodged them. Renegades of the November 26 attacks could also resort to similar guerrilla tactics as a form of civil disobedience before they spread over to Freetown. The debate about who will being the bullets still continue.
Could it be the runaway prisoners who will come back with bullets from their hideouts to wreak havoc against the Bio regime? After the jail break, according to government sources, close to 2000 prisoners ran away from their cells during the armed attacks against police and military facilities here in Freetown.
The thinking could not be a wishful one since a good number of the prisoners were serving and ex-soldiers including Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Mohamed Turay aka YETE YETE who was picked up in Liberia on allegations of treason. CSP Turay was allegedly arbitrarily dismissed from the police force by the PAOPA Regime, and later harassed when he was spotted in APC rally in Makeni city, North of Sierra Leone.
Government’s move, according to sources, was to get rid of the ex-police officer, and the only way to achieve such mission was rope in him in for treason, the most serious crime known to the criminal law.
Government alleged that the former senior police officer involved in a deal to topple and the Bio regime and take over state administration. Like other prisoners, CSP Touray never saw the light of day since their arrest not until they were let lose by the November attacks.
According to reliable sources in the security agencies, most of those arrested did not know the crimes they were arrested for, and therefore ready to revenge when the opportune time comes.
Will CSP Turay and other prisoners come with weapons to retaliate against the Bio regime?
If ECOMSIL, the renegades and prisoners do not bring in bullets, will the protesters smuggle weapons to Sierra Leone to make the protest bloody and deadly.
Several waves of protest have taken place quite lately but were brutally repelled with protesters arrested and locked up indefinitely and incommunicado.
Government may hold this suspicion that they could bring in weapons this time to hit hard on the PAOPA regime, but if they bring bullet, they will also meet bullet according to President Bio.