By:Thaimu Bai Sesay
The Sierra Leone Minister of Information and Civic Education Chernor Bah who has been monitoring the number of casualties through the relevant state securities has confirmed that 14 Military personnel lost their lives during the attempted failed coup, excluding other categories of persons which he further detailed.
The Information Minister made the above confirmation in the presence of the Chief of Defense Staff, the Inspector General of police, Director General of the Sierra Leone Correctional Centre and members of the press on Tuesday 28th November 2023 at the weekly government press briefing hosted at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Excluding the 14 Military officers killed, the Information Minister further detailed the unfortunate incident which he described as a failed attempted coup also took the lives of one police officer and one correctional service official.
Amongst the alleged assailant the Information Minister, Bah confirmed that three lost their lives including one described as “Leather Boot”, a notorious personal security guard of former president Ernest Bai koroma. Amongst the civilians Chernor Bah also confirmed that one person whom they identified as a security guard working for a private security agency, lost his life during the course of the incident. He added that one female whom they are yet to ascertain whether she was directly related to the situation or not also lost her life.
In relation to the number of suspects arrested as at the moment he was giving the update, the Information Minister revealed that 13 Military officials and one civilian, making them a total of 14 were in custody. These statistics were confirmed by the Chief of Defense Staff who as at the briefing.
The Information and Civic Education Minister assured members of the general public that His Excellency President Rtd. Brig. Julius Maada Bio is in full and complete control and as well as the state security forces. He further assured all parents to allow their children to go to their respective schools, and all business people to go about their normal businesses.
The Minister reinforced that the new curfew imposed from 6am to 9:00pm daily which meant to allow the security officials to find the culprits is still in progress. He assured that the security forces would continue their search of the alleged victims in accordance to the laws of Sierra Leone.
He reassured President Bio’s commitment in relation to his determination on the security forces was for people to go about their normal businesses as normal as possible. As a parent, he further assured everyone to be calm and do their normal business as he guarantees that the situation was firmly under control.