By: Problyn J. Alpha
The lack of utility or patrol vehicles for the Kono Police Division is becoming a serious issue for them and residents of Kono has been raining insults and accusations that the police are in the habit of aiding and abetting thieves.
Despite the reported transformation that has taken place in the Sierra Leone Police Force (SLP) under the leadership of the Inspector General of the Sierra Leone Police Force William Fayai Sellu, the Tankoro police divisional headquarters in Koidu city Kono District is said to have been relegated in-terms of logistical support for the day-to-day operations of the said police division.
This is as a result of the division having a problematic and outdated operational vehicle which spends more time parking than performing its duties.
This was recently observed when the only vehicle meant for operations almost spent the rest of last week Tuesday conveying a corpse to the Koidu government hospital mortuary of a fourteen (14) year-old girl that allegedly died in an FGM shrine during an initiation exercise at Kansay community in Koidu city Kono District.
Meanwhile, critics of the Sierra Leone Police force have alleged that the operations of the police vehicle in question are most times aiding and abetting the module Operandi of thieves especially when the vehicle is responding to distress calls that is during the process of responding to distress calls by members of the public; thieves in action will steadily pull out without any resistance from the police owing to the deplorable mechanical condition of the said police vehicle in question.
The residents have therefore pleaded with the management of the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) especially the IGP for the provision of logistical support for the Tankoro police divisional headquarters in Koidu city Kono District as it is equally important as the other police divisions across the country.
Other people who spoke to this medium on the said issue attributed the present condition of the vehicles in question to what they called a lack of civic education and a culture of maintenance.