By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
The Inspector-General of Police William Fayia Sellu told a press conference in Freetown on Tuesday that the Security Sector has been following leads that point toward people whose activities threatened the peace and security of the country, and for which arrests have been made.
He said the police have in their custody 8 middle-level officers of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF), ranging from Lieutenant to Major.
The IGP further said that they have in their custody 6 Non- Commissioned Officers (NCOs) from the RSLAF, 2 serving members of the Sierra Leone Police (SLP), that include one Sub-Inspector and one Police Constable, and that they have also detained one retired Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) and two civilians. He added that as the investigations continue, they have put up a manhunt for 5 RSLAF personnel- two of them middle-level officers and three NCOs as well as 3 police personnel- one an Inspector and two constables.
He said as a result the SLP has changed its personnel posture across the country and beefed up border security.
IGP Sellu noted that the general security situation in the country is relatively calm and quiet, but stated that they have stepped-up intelligence and deployed even civilians at the border crossing points of Liberia and Guinea.
He also stated that on Saturday 5th August 2023 around 11:15 hours, a helicopter with registration number Z5-RWT did a precautionary landing outside Waterloo. He said the helicopter was said to belong to Sky Horse Aviation Company which has its headquarters in Pretoria, South Africa.
The Police boss stated that the helicopter’s two crew members are British and South African and are certified pilots using the helicopter for mineral exploration with mining companies and diplomatic communities. He said the helicopter left South Africa on the 25th of July, 2023 passed through so many air spaces, and informed them of their landing. It came through the airspaces of Botswana, Angola, Namibia, Cameroon, Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone and was heading to Gambia and Mauritanian.
He noted that the helicopter has a landing permit for Sierra Leone to refill its fuel tank. He said their agent in Sierra Leone named, Patrick Sorie Kamara stays at 8C Carlton Carew Lane off Wilkinson Road.
IGP Sellu said that based on the interrogation they carried with the pilot, they were flying about 11000 feet above sea level and noticed that the helicopter was acting abnormally and decided to crash-land, wherein they automatically contacted the control tower to notify about their whereabouts. He further said that based on preliminary investigations, the community people told them that the helicopter was struggling whilst landing.
The community people also confirmed to the IGP that they saw no one collecting luggage, or any other items from the helicopter as was alleged on social media. He said the crew contacted engineers in South Africa to fix the helicopter for it to continue its assignment, saying it is currently parked at the Jui RSLAF base.
He ended by assuring the public to go about their normal business and to report any unusual happenings in their various communities.
The press conference held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Internal Cooperation was hosted by the Ministry of Information and Civic Education.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (09/08/23)
