By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
The attempted Coup of November 26, 2023 which resulted in 18 security personnel losing their lives is a day that has been cataloged in the history of this country among a few other dates that ordinary Sierra Leoneans would always wish to forget.
I was informed of the rapid gunshots to the west of the city by a neighbor who woke me up to ask if I had a relative at Wilberforce to ascertain whether the rumored attack was true. With shock and dismay, I picked up my phone and nervously placed a call to a colleague journalist residing at Wilberforce Barracks who however told me he didn’t spend the night in the barracks but her sister called and informed him of the attack.
I immediately switched on to the internet on my phone and messages started popping up from various WhatsApp forums giving different information. Panic gripped most people including who had witnessed attacks before. I didn’t show much emotion but I was very badly shaken. The worst happened in the morning when news broke that the Pademba Road maximum prison had been breached and prisoners released. After the government declared a curfew with immediate effect, people who had gone to the market for their normal businesses had to rush home for fear of not getting trapped along the way.
I was wondering, after receiving news of the Prison break, whether there would be another standoff with the prospect of businesses and offices having to close for extended periods. Pondering what next to do and who to call, I stood by my gate in the morning seeing people including a blind man living in the community, moving up and down and thinking about what would become of him should the violence escalate. As he passed by, I began thinking about the fate of those poor, mostly blind beggars living along Kissy Road, Wilberforce Street, and other busy streets in the city. Their daily survival had been disrupted and for how many days more. There was so much uncertainty at this time.
Following the declaration of the curfew, two young men went into a fistfight over the drug “Kush.” One, still intoxicated, was accusing the other of stealing the substance while he was asleep. I managed a little laugh in my corner and imagined that had the worst happened and the coup plotters succeeded and held the country to ransom, would these guys still be fighting over kush?
Preparing for work on the 27th of November as usual, I received news that my elder brother had suffered from a stroke. Now I had to decide whether to go to work or be with a sick sibling.
Guess what, I called my editor to inform her of the prevailing circumstances and that I had decided to take my brother to the hospital which she agreed to and advised me to “watch my back” as things were yet to be normal as a caring boss would do. Unfortunately, doctors were also afraid to go to the hospital fearing the worst. Only a few of them were there, and we were told to take my brother home with medicines prescribed to hold him up until things become normal for a laboratory test to be done.
In a busy newsroom preparing for our next edition on the 28th of November, news also broke that gunshots were heard along Murray Town, while others said it happened at Campbell Street, and Mount Aureol to name but a few. The picture became confusing and panic set in, inevitably.
Family members started sending me messages and phone calls to make sure I was safe while others wanted to know if shots were indeed fired. Well as a professional journalist credible and factual information was expected to come from us but as those calls kept coming in I was also trying to make sense of the story.
The CEO of my institution who many relied on for factual and accurate information since the night of the attack and subsequent days, informed us in the newsroom that the shooting happened in Murray Town where State Security had raided a compound to arrest one of the November 26 assailants that was hiding there and urged everyone to remain calm.
Unfortunately for the traditional media in the country, no media house carried the November 26 attack either in newspapers, radio or television stations live. The media were asleep throughout that night and the next day with no reporting of the attacks to the public.
Radio stations were off in the city whether on account of being afraid that the assailants might force their way in and make unnecessary announcements or that equipment might be destroyed. The social media and its reporters were wide awake reporting every bit of the incident making it difficult to differentiate truth from fake news. Thanks to our colleagues from the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists who were constantly engaged in fact-checking and verification.
The State broadcaster, the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) was at some point rumored to have been set ablaze, but the Director General, Joseph Egbenda Kapuwa was quoted by a local online newspaper debunking the claim.
The importance of social media cannot be underestimated as all radio stations were shut down. Though some of the images sent by some social media handles were horrific, they kept updating the public about the whereabouts of the assailants and the prison break saga.
Social media bloggers also shared press releases from the Information Ministry declaring a nationwide curfew so that the assailants would be traced in their hideouts before President Julius Maada Bio made the official State address on the attack.
As the 9 pm curfew continued, citizens who had pending businesses to fulfill started grumbling, failing to realize the seriousness of what just happened that triggered the imposition of the curfew. Others were even grumbling that their entertainment shows had stalled as a result of the curfew and I wondered what they were really concerned about. My mind went to our compatriot breadwinners who had lost their lives trying to save our beloved country. I grieve for the families they left behind.
Well, I hope there will be some kind of relief now after the curfew has been shifted from its initial 9 pm to midnight. To my utmost surprise, after the curfew was shifted, young girls and boys who wanted to have parties were sharing the press release from the Ministry of Information and Civic Education announcing the adjustment. I laughed at the idea that “slay queens and kings” have suddenly become interested in governance issues.
The events of November 26 shattered many lives and served as an eye-opener to many, and it remains a day to forget in the history of Sierra Leone for the chills it sent down many spines.
Copyright © 2024 Politico (10/01/24)
