Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Sierra Leone barracks, prison attackers arrested
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — Sierra Leone’s president said most of the leaders of the attacks on the nation’s main military barracks and prisons over the weekend had been arrested, though the capital remained tense on Monday, with many streets empty after a 24-hour curfew was relaxed to a dusk-to-dawn lockdown.
The attacks early Sunday surprised residents and security forces in the West African nation and raised fears of a possible coup in a troubled region.
But “calm has been restored,” President Julius Maada Bio said in a Sunday night address, adding that security operations and investigations continued.
Residents in the capital of Freetown were awoken by sounds of heavy gunfire as gunmen tried to break into the key armory in the country’s largest military barracks, located near the presidential villa in a heavily guarded part of the city.
The gunmen exchanged fire for several hours with security forces. They also targeted major detention centers — including the central prison holding more than 2,000 inmates — and freed or abducted an unconfirmed number of people, authorities said.
Not much is known publicly about the identities or intentions of the attackers or those killed, though former President Ernest Bai Koroma said one of his military guards was killed on duty at his residence in the capital, while another was taken away.
In interviews with local media, some of the attackers said their objective was “to clean up the system,” not to target civilians.
Kars de Bruijne, head of the Sahel program at the Clingendael Institute, said the assailants numbered more than 50 and ruled out the possibility that it was a random criminal incident.
“It has been increasingly easy to get weapons, particularly through the border with Guinea,” Bruijne said.
Neighboring Guinea remains politically unstable after a coup in 2021. Sierra Leone itself is still healing from an 11-year civil war that ended more than two decades ago. Its population of 8 million people is among the poorest in the world.
The attacks deepened political tensions in West and Central Africa where coups have surged, with eight military takeovers since 2020, including in Niger and Gabon this year.
West Africa’s regional economic bloc ECOWAS — of which Sierra Leone is a member — described the attacks as a plot “to acquire arms and disturb the peace and constitutional order.”
The attacks were “an attempt to undermine the peace and stability we have worked so hard to achieve,” said Bio, who was reelected in a disputed vote in June. Two months after he was reelected, police said they arrested several people, including senior military officers planning to use protests “to undermine peace.”
The 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew will remain in effect until further notice, Information Minister Chernor Bah said, as he encouraged residents “to remain calm but vigilant.”
But many in the capital and across the country remained indoors, worried about possible violence.
In central Freetown, Adama Hawa Bah, whose house is close to the Pademba Road Prison, said she saw inmates walking freely after the prison was attacked.
“Many are hiding among us,” Bah said. “We would rather be safe indoors than be taken by surprise out there.”
The U.S. Embassy condemned the attack and said it honored “those who gave their lives yesterday in defense of Sierra Leone’s Constitution and government.”