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*Arata’s Death Sends a Chilling Message to PAOPA Thugs*
*21/08/2023*
I want to start this off by condemning the mobbing of Arata to death. That said, the purpose of this article is not to cry for someone who died the way he lived his life. We as adults should know that there are consequences that do not wait too long to catch up with us when we sign up for a life of recklessness that seeks to always terrorize others and send them into hiding when we are around.
We live in a democratic state, and so the rights of everyone should be protected whether they are spreading government propaganda or having dissenting viewpoints. During Arata’s lifetime, he set out to terrorize all those who had not-so-good things to say about the government and was proudly boasting about it. Whether he was hired to do so or it was his own way of chasing clout, one thing was clear – the path was a danger zone. Did he care? No!
The fact that he got away with his assaults on others showed that he had some superpowers that were backing him. Before the SLPP could barely clock a year in office he had already threatened the lives of people like Emmerson, and later Sara D Great and many others. He was among those who destroyed ballot boxes and other election materials in front of the Sierra Leone Police when PAOPA lost the by-election in constituency 110. In the buildup to the general elections, while members of the APC were under attack, he took his own turn as well to terrorize them. He vandalized Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr’s car and the Inspector General of Police, William Fayia Sellu allowed him to walk freely afterwards.
His stiff opposition to freedom of speech and hanging rod over the lives of those who dared to do so earned him some good connections and he seemingly had a comfortable lifestyle in the first couple of years of the PAOPA regime. His fall from that grace was unbelievable. I could recount a couple of incidents where he was alleged to have attempted to rob someone but ran out of luck. Following these incidents he was arrested and (maybe) detained, but was back on the streets before anyone knew it. This was how powerful he was.
More likely than not, the “immunity” he had to commit atrocities prompted him to take new routes in his journey as a bully. I was told that in his last moments, he was picking up fights with bike and Keke riders and taking their motorcycles and tricycles from them. These people, knowing the Police cannot serve justice to them when Arata is the aggressor, decided to explore their own means to put an end to his madness. They mobilized against him and he couldn’t survive the blows of the oppressed.
Following this, the Sierra Leone Police hypocritically issued a warning to people who decided to take the laws into their hands. I understand their point, but they are equally accomplices in what played out. They should check their records and see how many complaints they have for Arata that he was never charged to court for. They always dismissed them, implying that the victims sort themselves out.
Arata is just one extension of the many PAOPA guys who wreak havoc on citizens for expressing their rights. I hope his tragic end serves as a lesson to all those who have found pleasure in destabilizing others. I hope the rebels dressed in uniforms will hold themselves back from senselessly killing Sierra Leoneans. I hope they get reasonable enough to realize that killing others does not go unpunished, and the politicians they are killing for won’t come to their rescue when it’s payback time. Arata was defenceless when his ways came back to haunt him. Don’t forget that.
There is already a long list of citizens who have lost their lives due to the overbearing nature of the government and the blind loyalty of the security forces. As the SLPP counts down to leaving power forever, I hope that nobody gets killed again. The records are on safe shelves, and those who have blood stains on their hands should continue to wait for a taste of their own poison.
©️Yusuf Kanu
*APC BIRMINGHAM*
