By: Problyn J Alpha
During a one-day Regional Stakeholders Consultation on the implementation of the Tripartite Committee Recommendations No. 76 focusing on the Review of the Independent Media Commission (IMC) Act 2020 held at the SLAJ Regional Office East on Maada Bio Street in Kenema, an incident of theft was reported.
According to eyewitness accounts, a boy identified as Abdulai Barrie covertly moved among the participants while they were engaged in presentations by Dr. Francis Sowa, Dean of the Faculty of Communication at Fourah Bay College. Barrie was observed discreetly collecting mobile phones belonging to several attendees who were focused on the session.
One participant, who closely monitored Barrie’s suspicious behaviour, raised an alarm, alerting others to the theft. Barrie was quickly apprehended and taken to an office within the SLAJ Regional Secretariat East, where he was reportedly stripped naked and physically punished before being released.
During his detention, Barrie denied stealing the phones found in his possession, claiming instead that he is affiliated with a political party (name withheld).
Onlookers reported seeing Barrie fleeing the SLAJ secretariat naked, with his genitals exposed. Some eyewitnesses also stated that Barrie is a known drug addict recently released from a rehabilitation center in Kenema and has a history of theft.