July 9, 2021
By Ilyasa Baa
The shooting of a miner, Mohamed Turay in Magburaka by Police Constable Mohamed Kargbo has sparked tension between the police and residents of Matunkara community who are calling for a fast tracked investigative process to bring the officer to book.
The Sierra Leone Police, according to Supt. Alpha Fabuleh, who happens to be the Local Unit Commander of the Magburaka Police Station, the officer has been suspended and is currently detained facing investigation for his action. He said he had to call for reenforcement from Makeni to be able to take the body for postmortem at the Magburaka Government Hospital.
Our sources revealed that the officer was deployed at a mining site to secure impounded mining equipments such as excavator and a dreg machine seized due to illegal mining, when the deceased appeared at the site trying to carry out his mining activities. He was said to have been asked to stop by the officer but did not listen and the source further revealed that a fight ensued resulting in the discharge of a bullet on the chest of the deceased by the officer. A member of the community informed this medium that the deceased was trying to fetch water and was not on illegal mining as alleged.
The officer is expected to be investigated internally by the CDIID and charged to court as it happened in the case of the Hastings Killing.