Stop the trigger-happy madness in Sierra Leone now!

The spate of shooting and killing of innocent people by personnel of the Operation Support Division (OSD) of the Sierra Leone police in recent times is raising tension around the country.

We are told the police are investigating these reckless and brutal killings and have been assured as usual that appropriate action will be taken against the perpetrators. If so, the public is anxious to know the outcome of these investigations. This time we do not want these investigations to be kept under carpet as it used to be in the past.

We say so because when in June last year, trigger crazy OSD officers shot and killed two young men, actually school boys, at the Wellington Industrial Estate in Freetown, suspecting them to be armed robbers, all what happened was that politicians hijacked the event and made huge political capital over it while the alleged killers were let off the hook.

When also in September of same, police officers shot at a crowd of people in Bo and in the event killed an okada rider it was supporters of the opposition that the police charged to court while the alleged perpetrators went scot-free.

The outcome of the Bumbuna shooting by police officers, resulting in the death of a lady is still unclear. Also in April this year, another police officer shot and killed a civilian during a quarrel over a plate of rice at a funeral ceremony in central Freetown; the matter remains in limbo.

Again, questions around the shooting and killing of a US Marine deportee at a beach side resort had not been properly addressed when last week a drug addicted OSD personnel fired at his colleague police officer, killing him instantly.

There is also report of a policeman shooting a school boy in Kono during a recent protest march, and like all other past incidents, the perpetrators have not been brought to book.

It is therefore becoming increasingly clear that under the prevailing circumstance Sierra Leoneans do not seem completely safe in the hands of the police. This is however not suggesting that there are no trained and disciplined officers in the force. They are there in their numbers, but one bad fish in a basket, they say, will invariably contaminate the rest.

Unarguably, the police are a vital component in state governance. They have an indispensable role in the maintenance of peace, security and good governance. Without them what we will have in our hands is total chaos and anarchy.

However, the current posture of the police who seem to deviate from their conventional role of peace keepers to targeting defenseless people in an orgy of brutal murders is by no means sending wrong signals. This country has fought a decade of bloody civil war, leaving in its wake both physical and psychological scars that will always remind us of that bloody past. That is why each time a life is taken either through violent means or simply through unauthorized shooting and killing by security personnel, it will always send shivers down our spines. This latest killing will no doubt increased our blood pressure as law abiding citizens.

We do not need to shout it aloud, but Sierra Leoneans are tired of blood-letting. This country cannot afford to retrace that tragic path again. Never again! It is on account of these unfortunate events that we now call on the authorities to do everything in their power to stop these senseless killings of innocent people. Thanks God, President Koroma, we are told, is visibly disturbed by these sad developments. The deputy minister of Internal Affairs ministry, Shaka Tarawally has vehemently condemned the dastardly acts; the Inspector General of Police, Francis Munu, we learnt, is leaving no stone unturned in reversing the ugly trend.

Civil society too has taken great exception to this madness within the OSD unit of the police. The entire citizenry of this country is utterly saddened by these unrelated occurrences and has proffered suggestions as to how to curb these excesses, such as the proper screening of new recruits before their deployment, in addition to regular training sessions. Most of these recruits are said to be drug addicts recommended by politicians later to be used as thugs. We therefore need concrete action this time round and with tangible results.

 As a matter of fact, we do not want to see a situation whereby civilians will one day take up arms against these trigger happy officers as a self-defence strategy. It is therefore a matter of extreme urgency that these willful killings are put to a stop now. The earlier it is done the better.

By Ibrahim Karim-Sei

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