IG Munu authorised unlawful arrest
The Inspector General of the Sierra Leone Police, Francis Alieu Munu has in a telephone interview told Sierra Express Media that he ordered the arrest and subsequent detention of a military man who came to report a suspicion at the police headquarter in Freetown that a vehicle with registration No AGH 853 was said to have contained substance alleged to be cocaine and a mixture of precious minerals.
IG Munu said the military man should have called the police when he suspected the vehicle on the premise that the German was a survivor of a car burnt to ashes by irate youths in Waraima a few days ago.
The IG said the German in question is a business investor who operates under a business name called GEKO Sierra Leone and has a business plan that is vast catering to ameliorate the quest of youthful unemployment in the country. On this backdrop, the IG said he does not want the singular action of the military man to give a negative impression of the German so as to influence him badly.
The military man’s explanations contradict the IG’s as he said he was tipped that the vehicle in question was in possession of substance suspected to be cocaine, together with diamonds. The Soldier said he approached the vehicle in which was a Ghanaia woman, the German, and the driver. He said he then told the driver that he suspected certain substance that is contraband in the vehicle. “They asked me to identify myself but I was not with my military ID on the spot. By the time I checked to pick my ID in the nearby street the suspect vehicle was moving, so I had to call upon the help of a female Police Constable 10866 to apprehend the vehicle, while I came back with my military ID. I boarded the vehicle to report my suspicion to the police. It was thwarting to realize that the IGP failed to listen to my complaint; and went ahead to brandish me as a common criminal who was harassing the German and for which he only came to know me for the first time”, says the Soldier.
The soldier said by the nature of community policing and himself being a soldier, he has the right to pursue crime and criminals suspected in conflict with the law.
However, the IG again said via his telephone conversation with Sierra Express Media that the work of the Soldier does not cover the mandate of an arrest based on suspicion.
Our information is that the German is operating a Non Governmental Organization called “GEKO” with offices situated at 55 Siaka Stevens Street.
It is revealed that as the accused was being taken to the Central Police Division, the IG was contacted, who later asked the Police Officer in charge to bring the mater directly to him at the Sierra Leone Police Headquarters, where he immediately ordered the arrest of the military officer and unlawfully detained him for him simply calling to check the vehicle of the German.
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