That Fourah Bay ugly incident
A report of recent skirmishes among residents around the Kennedy Street area in Fourah Bay, over the construction of a church is seemingly sending wrong signals and must be nipped in the bud as best as possible.
If Sierra Leoneans will pride themselves as the most renowned country in the sub-region for religious harmony, then we have a duty as a people to protect and preserve that legacy.
Notably, we might belong to different ethnic backgrounds or political persuasions, but the fact that we can live together as Muslims and Christians under one roof without raising any tension explains how peaceful we are as a nation.
This religious harmony has become part of our history which we can pass on to generations yet unborn.
But when we begin to hear of one set of youths attacking the other over a piece of land reportedly used for the construction of a church, we are bound to raise an eyebrow.
We thank God, the incident has not yet resulted in any loss of life as happened in Grafton where a journalist was stabbed to death by unruly youths over a piece of land.
Regrettably, incidences of violence are becoming commonplace events in post-war Sierra Leone.
The signal this ugly situation is sending is that we are living in a country where people can now take the law into their own hands.
In other words, the rule of law is no longer respected by some sections of our population. And such a development can only take place where justice is not seen to be equitably dispensed.
This is why people now prefer to ignore the laws of our land and recourse to violence as a means of redress.
This must stop if we are to benefit from the fruit of religious tolerance.
Coming back to the Fourah Bay incident, everything humanly possible should be done to avert a similar occurrence not only at the Fourah Bay community, but elsewhere in the country.
The police must be vigilant and ensure that our culture of tolerance is protected and preserved.
Sometimes these isolated violent incidents can raise the political temperature which invariably can boil over and create tension amongst the populace.
Watch out, 2012 is nearer!
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