By Bob Batilo Saffa
Officer Commanding police operations in the eastern town of Segbwema, Kailahun district has told Politico that ten cases of house-breaking and larceny have been reported to his office in just one month.
ASP Patrick Joseph Alpha said investigation was in progress but that no arrests had been made so far. He said “to make the township safe again I have organized patrols in the township”.
But the officer said personnel strength in Segbwema should be reinforced because he was having a lot of problems covering the entire township.
He said the lack of vehicles to undertake effective patrols had compounded the problem, and accused the community of failing to engage with the police in terms of information-sharing to help their work.
One of the victims of the wave of thefts, Gabriel James Koker, the headmaster of the Roman Catholic Primary school said the thieves broke into his office on the 21 October, 2013 and "carted away assorted school materials worth millions of leones".
Koker said his house was also ransacked by thieves on 5 November, 2013 who took away all his household property, including Le 2 million in cash.
He described the affair as “an unfortunate situation that hads befallen me at the close of the year".
A section chief Juana Gogra said “the security situation in the township has caused my people sleepless nights and the Paramount Chief will soon report the matter in Freetown”.
He said the “sporadic breaking into houses, shops and churches has seriously disrupted work in these institutions" citing the Wesley Secondary School and the New Apostolic Church as examples.
A Catholic priest at St. Peters Parish in Segbwema, the Rev. Father Edmond Kemoh, told Politico that his mission was “completely terrified by the constant attacks on homes, schools and churches particularly because of the location of my church”.
He appealed to the Assistant Inspector General of police in the eastern region to “strengthen police presence throughout Segbwema especially at night.”
(C) Politico 28/11/13
