By: Mohamed Sahr
The Sierra Leone Police (SLP) has staged a robust community sensitization across the country ahead of electioneering period.
The information was revealed to journalists at a press briefing on Thursday 27th October, 2022 at the Police headquarters in Freetown.
Edna Silver, Chief Superintendent of Police and the Head of Community Relations Department said the community sensitization approach mounted across the nation’s capital and the provinces proved to be a step in the right direction.
Edna Silver furthered that the engagement would swiftly revamp a peaceful co-existence among Sierra Leoneans amidst the election period.
She revealed that the ongoing sensitization process targets schools especially in the Freetown-West and East regions respectively. “We have also targeted major communities within the western area,” Silver said.
Edna Silver stated that they are working in collaboration with community stakeholders in order to avoid major challenges in the sensitization drive.
She added that the same strive has been taken in the provincial district headquarters with massive feedbacks from key stakeholders. Silver said they captured marketplaces, Ataya bases among others in order to create peaceful awareness before going into the general election.
She disclosed that another strategy has been created to make the entire process entertaining with the introduction of musicians from the Community Relations Department that would attract the community people.
Foday Conteh, Detective Inspector of Police attached at the Family Support Unit said their mandate is to receive complains from the members of the public and they investigate the cases before taking preferring by the direction of the public prosecution. He averred that the Family Support Unit (FSU) had overtime charged quite a good number of trials in court.
He said they are as well tasked with the accreditation of preventing and advising members of the public against Sexual Gender Based Violence (SGBV).
Conteh stated that in partnership with the Community Relations Department in the sensitization of various schools and other institutions within the country, they had made tremendous impacts on issues relating to child offences.
“The matter relating to the accusation made again the Managing Director of Rokel Commercial Bank and the arrest of six lecturers of the Milton Margai University for sexual harassment are under investigation,” Foday affirmed.
Edward Senesie, Assistant Superintendent of Police in the Freetown-East said the district is relatively calm and quite. He revealed that night patrols were ongoing across the strategic locations in the said division.
Senesie said robust sensitization step has been taken by the members of Political Parties in the bid of fostering peace and national cohesion within the country. He noted that along the Waterloo Main motor road, quantities of drugs were discovered and identified as the Free Healthcare drugs. “We have made an arrest and investigation has been mounted,” Assistant Superintendent of Police in the Freetown-East said.