A Commissioner of the Independent Media Commission (IMC) says he is “badly shaken and humiliated” after being attacked by a senior military officer close to the military training centre at Benguema, just outside Freetown.
Commissioner Augustine Garmoh said he and his family left Benguema Barracks at about 5:30 pm after the burial of his father-in-law, and that as they approached the Tombo highway, “there was a Mercedes Benz 190 Saloon car parked at the middle of the intersection from the barracks gate to the Tombo highway with the driver talking to some girls selling grapefruits”.
He said he hooted his car horn several times for minutes but that the car driver did not budge. He eventually managed to squeeze his way and “stopped directly opposite the driver and reminded him gently that it was not right for him to have parked at the junction and disregard my urge for him to give me way”.
Garmoh stated in an official letter of complaint to the Minister of Defence dated 8 January 2014 that the driver “jumped out of his car, rushed at me shouting 'you f- - -ing civilian, don't you know that I am a soldier', grabbed me and twisted my hands, forcefully took the vehicle's keys from me and threw it to one Cpl. Samura”.
According to the letter, the man whom he later identified only as Captain Sesay instructed his junior officers to “take care of me and he drove off”.
The IMC commissioner said “my keys were being held against my wish and I was by implication detained at that junction until the officers on the ground around the main Benguema gate who saw it all...called on the adjutant who ordered the release of the keys to me almost towards the night”.
The second-term IMC Commissioner said he made a formal report with the military police at Benguema and “I am prepared to wait for a few days to see what the military high command will do before I exercise the other options open to me as a citizen of Sierra Leone”.
Colonel Michael Samura, military spokesman told Politico that he was unaware of the incident and could not therefore comment on it. When asked whether he could do some investigation and get back to us with their own side of the story, he said he was off duty and couldn’t get anyone to talk to. He promised though to find out once he resumed work.
(C) Politico 14/01/14
