By Alpha Abu
The remains of civilians killed in the 10 August anti-government protests are to be buried by the state today Monday.
This was confirmed by relatives of three of the 25 civilian victims who spoke to Politico on condition of anonymity.
One of them who said he was a brother-in-law to the slain Hassan Dumbuya better known as Evangelist Samson explained how relatives of all the deceased were called to a government meeting at the Ministry of Internal Affairs on Friday. He said the Minister of Internal Affairs, David Panda Noah and Social Welfare Minister, Baindu Dassama were joined by other senior government officials to talk to them.
He said they were told the government would be burying the victims today but could not say where. The man said each family was given the sum of Le20,000,000 (twenty million Leones) which other people accepted but that the family of Samson rejected the offer. He said they also expressed their indignation that the body of Samson would not be handed over to them.
He said they were told only three members per victim must be present at the Freetown Morgue on Monday from where a bus would be made available to take them along to the undisclosed burial site.
We couldn’t reach the minister of internal affairs.
The August protests in parts of the country which turned violent, also left six officers dead. Calling it an insurrection, the government accused member of the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) of sponsoring them. An accusation the party has vehemently denied.
Hundreds of people suspected of involvement in the riots were detained in the aftermath of the violence. Some have since been released, but more are being investigated whilst others believed to be on the run are being sought. Trials are taking place with about 10 convictions so far.
The six officers who were killed were given a state funeral that was attended by government officials including President Julius Maada Bio, and each family given a purse of Le 100 million, as compensation.
Government buildings and vehicles were destroyed by the rioters who said they were protesting over the rising cost of living, and calling for the president to go
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