By Abubakarr Bah
Inspector General of Police, Francis Munu, has told Politico that he was not aware of the reported shooting of live rounds by officers on the Military Aid to Civil Power (MAC-P) while dispersing a rowdy crowd at the opposition SLPP headquarters on Wallace Johnson Street in Freetown at the weekend.
“I’m not aware of any such incident” he said, insisting “You are the first one to inform me of such, if it at all really occurred”.
On whether the alleged shooting was disproportionate to the incident, the police boss said he would not comment on an issue he was not aware of. “If you are reporting that story just ensure that you are objective” he urged.
Eyewitnesses in and around the SLPP office say a combined team of Operation Support Division (OSD) of the police and military officers, with arms, came to the scene and fired live rounds and tear-gas canisters to disperse SLPP supporters.
Editor of the SLPP-owned Unity Newspaper, Borbor Wilson Bockarie said police did fire live rounds following an incident of “provocation from a supporter of the ruling APC called Fula Gee.”
Bokarie told Politico that “since the announcement of the 2012 Presidential election results in favour of the All Peoples Congress, a certain Fula Gee has been disguising in red female attire and strolling along the SLPP headquarters singing provocative songs against the party’s presidential candidate Rtd. Brigadier Julius Maada Bio.”
He said that on Saturday the APC supporter “repeated the same thing but this time he came closer to our party’s office and rained insults against the mother of our Presidential candidate and our supporters admonished him to refrain from such and he went away.”
He said that immediately Fula Gee had left the scene, a truckload of police and military officers “bulldozed” its way to their party’s office and started “indiscriminately” firing live rounds into the air as well as tear-gas canisters.
The Unity Newspaper editor claimed that the police and military officers beat up and wounded their supporters who were at the scene. He confirmed some arrests on Sunday of their supporters by police but could not ascertain the number.
But a cigarette trader across the street who witnessed the incident, told Politico that the APC supporter, Fula Gee, was manhandled by some SLPP supporters for insulting the mother of their leader.
Brima Kargbo said this led to the “swift intervention” of the police and military. He confirmd that armed police and soldiers did fire live rounds and tear-gas canisters at the party’s office.
Administrative Secretary of the SLPP, Alhaji Ibrahim Koroma, has condemned the behaviour of the security forces describing it as “disproportionate.” He said he was “surprised to have learnt that the armed security personnel would fire live rounds and brutalize supporters of the SLPP after they had been provoked by an APC thug.” He blamed the Inspector General of Police for “instructing his men to act disproportionately against defenseless supporters of the SLPP.”
© Politico 05/12/2012
