AIG, East, Karrow-Kamara
Lawyers in the eastern city of Kenema have slammed the man in charge of police operations in the region for "raiding schools and classrooms at random, searching the pupils' bags and checking for knives".
In a letter to Assistant Inspector General of Police, Alfred Karrow Kamara, the lawyers suggest that the actions of the police are "outrightly in contravention of instructive provisions of the Child Rights' Act and terrifying to the children".
They say they hope the AIG and his men are "not oblivious of the special treatment provided for children even when in conflict with the law because of their special circumstances" and urge the police to revisit their operational methods in the interest of the children and the community.
The lawyers say "most of the arrests made by police were from entertainment centres and main streets in Kenema, apparently targeting young persons going home after social nights out". They describe such actions as "indiscriminate and intimidating to the public".
But AIG Karrow-Kamara says their operation was intelligence-led and "targeted crime spots to arrest criminals and members of certain cliques that are wreaking havoc on peaceful citizens in Kenema".
He says the searches that were conducted on school pupils in classrooms and other places within Kenema do not contravene any law, adding that similar operations have been conducted in other parts of the country, including in Freetown.
The AIG says the schools were searched "collaboratively with principals and the school administrations and our efforts have been lauded by some of the schools where the search was done and we have been requested to expand the operation for sanity to prevail in schools and in the community.
The Principal of the Kenema Government Secondary School, Mustapha Mansaray has backed the police action saying his administration has also "conducted searches on our pupils when the security of my teachers and other pupils was threatened. We even expelled a few of the guilty students last year".
Civil society organisations in Kenama have also backed the police action. Patrick Adu of the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy, says "we fully support the AIG, because before his arrival in Kenema, there was so much insecurity in the town with a steep increase in knife crimes and attacks on motor-cycle taxis". Adu says the searches done in schools are necessary because they have turned up knives and syringes from the children's bags".
Meanwhile one of the lawyers who signed the letter, Abdulai Bangura told Politico last evening that they've been assured by AIG Karrow-Kamara that they will always keep their operations within the law. He says the 54 people arrested between 25th January and 13th February have been fined and released.
(C) Politico 20/02/14
