July 7, 2021
By Mohamed Sesay and Mohamed Jalloh
At a Police Presser convened at the headquarters in Freetown, it was disclosed among other things that one lawmaker Emmanuel Saidu Conteh of the opposition All Peoples Congress has been arrested in connection with arms and ammunition. The details on the arms shipment is sketchy as the Police say they are investigating to come out with a comprehensive investigation on the incident that has gone viral on social media.
The AIG said they would have loved to display the weapons but further assured journalists that the said intercepted arms are at the Criminal Investigations department. They said the arms can be inspected by interested journalist at the small section at the CID.
The Police made a guarantee to journalists who want to see the weapons that they must contact the small arms section at the Criminal investigations Department.
AIG Mannah said the little said on this issue the better as the police don’t want to prejudice or interfere with the investigations as at now.
The AIG furthered that the presence of police in the streets is meant to enforce the Eleven O`clock curfew, which are one of the measures instituted by the government to stem the flow of the virulent Indian Covid-19 variant that has surfaced in Sierra Leone.
In order to contain the Indian variant, the police is only implementing the restrictive measures announced by President Bio and people are expected to stay indoors as the police have mounted check points in strategic places across the country in a way to ensuring that people stay indoors.
According to the AIG, all the restrictive announced by president Bio would be enforced including the wearing of face masks before one is allowed entry into public buildings.
It was emphasized that people should not be worried about the visibility of the police as they are also enforcing the Covid-19 emergency measure in homes were people are quarantined.
The AIG warned of how hostile the new variant is and people should not take it lightly but abide by the restrictive measures.
The police further updated the press on a recent operation conducted along the pampana/Jong river to deter people that are engaged in illegal mining and in the process destroying the natural ecosystem.
He informed of how some Sierra Leoneans in cohort with some foreign nationals were arrested in Magburaka and in kenema for engaging in illegal mining along the major rivers of Sierra Leone.
According to the AIG Mannah some of the suspects that were arrested have been charged to court, whiles others are in custody at the Criminal investigations Department helping the police with investions.
Some of the machines arrested such as dredgers and excavators used to dig below the sea bed are too large and heavy to be brought to Freetown, but they are in custody of the police in Kenema.
According to the police only a single miner has licenses to operate heavy equipments and all the others operating heavy equipments are doing so illegally.
The police expressed grave concern about the purity status of these rivers as their investigations have unravel the dumping of poisonous substance in the rivers such as Mercury that is used in the process of mining gold.
Such illegal mining is normally accompanied by illegal logging and deforestation which can cause land degradation and further rendering the land useless for agricultural purposes and the rivers unusable for irrigation and drinking purposes.
The debris resulting from the illegal mining could also destroy the marine life which is vital for the production of fish and would have consequences for the livelihood of the people living in those communities.
It was also revealed that the police is on the verge of conducting similar covert operations in other major rivers across the country and any journalist who wants to be part of the operation would be embedded as part of the police team.
Chief Superintendent Osman Foday Sesay further mentioned about operation sea gull which is in response to several blasts by fisher men taking place at the Aberdeen creek and in the process killing several fishes and their eggs in the shallow water.
The CSP said the dynamite which is a detonator is been used by fishermen and in the process the blast is shaking the Aberdeen bridge and cracking some houses nearby.
The police confirmed that several mine blasters have been arrested and are in custody helping the police with investigations.
According to the police the operation is ongoing to forestall the dangerous blast that destroys the marine life and also dangerous to communal living.