There are reports of a secret SLPP death squad going around at night, secretly abducting and killing innocent youths suspected of participating in last Wednesday’s demonstrations. The death squad is allegedly led by the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Lahai Lawrence Leema, who was cashiered from the Sierra Leone Army during the APC era.
Many Sierra Leone, speaking with awe in the social media began complaining about this night-time death squad and at first it was treated as a probable rumour. But it gained currency and some political leaders confirmed it . According to the reports, the Leema-led death squad is composed of soldiers and police loyal to Sierra Leone’s President Maada Bio.
Two independent Sierra Leone online newspapers gave credence to the reports.
The ORGANIZER newspaper in an article, headlined , Killing Spree Continues in Sierra Leone as Govt Assassins Shoot to Death Dozens of Citizens reported the following :
“The killing spree by the SLPP government continued in the north of the country. In Makeni, for instance, there are reports of systematic targeting of people in their homes and many of them have been murdered by the Kamajors who were imported from the southeast, the SLPP stronghold areas of Kenema, Bo, Kailahun, etc into Makeni by helicopter. Hundreds of Makeni residents have been killed in cold blood, an ordeal clearly machinated by the SLPP Resident Minister North Abu Abu Koroma. This is a government Minister noted for killing the people of Makeni. In 2020, it was the same Minister Abu Abu who instructed his brutal police to kill many youths who peacefully protested against the removal of their standby generators in the City. Abu Abu was caught on video threatening to kill anyone who disobeyed the government. A week later, his threats became a reality. Dozens of youths were massacred. Since then, President Bio’s government did not do anything to punish Abu Abu or the killers.
“Yesterday, the same Minister Abu Abu continued the killing spree in Makeni and other northern towns by using the cannibalistic SLPP government Kamajors. As we go press, cries from the north and from Freetown regarding the systematic massacres of innocent citizens continue to reverberate in and outside the country. Worried family members are crying for help from the international community to warn President Bio’s security bandits to stop the ethnic cleansing going on in Freetown and the northwest. The ongoing demonstration is organised by the Peoples Power in Politics PPP, popularised by Sierra Leone’s most active social media activist called Adebayor who is based in Holland. However, the failed SLPP government continues to blame the APC party for being behind the protests. These accusations have been fervently denied by the APC party. (Photo: Deaths in Sierra Leone).
The SIERRA LEONE TELEGRAPH in an article ,President Bio vows to crackdown hard on violent insurrectionists, collaborators, sponsors, and supporters, informed its readers that :
“There are reports of the snatching and disappearance of hundreds of people across the country, believed to have been killed or locked up in secret locations in ruling party strongholds by security forces and heavily armed SLPP party operatives, led by the deputy internal affairs minister – Lahai Lawrence Leema, where their fate is uncertain.
Those arrested are being denied access to legal representation, which is a serious breach of the Geneva Convention on Human Rights. The Geneva Convention “specifically protects all human beings affected by armed conflict, especially those who are not, or no longer, directly engaged in hostilities”.
Many people on social media have reported that the assassins use a black SUV, without licence plates and said to belong to Lawrence Leema.
Madam Femi Claudius Cole, the leader of the Unity Party of Sierra Leone, made a tweet confirming the exustence of the Maada Bio death squad.
An opposition party member who pleaded that his name be not mentioned for fear of reprisals, contacted COCORIOKO and begged the newspaper to bring to the attention of the nation and the world that the lives of opposition members are in danger as a night-time death squad goes around killing perceived opponents of the SLPP.
