By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
Almost a week since the state funeral accorded six police officers killed during the 10 August 2022 violent protests, relatives of the slain civilians have expressed frustration that they still do not have their bodies back for burial.
Some of them went to the central Freetown mortuary yesterday and saw the bodies for the first time. They expressed concern over “the lack of access to the bodies of our relatives”.
According to Ibrahim Sulaiman Kamara, the son of late Zainab Kallon (nee- Kamara) at No. 38B Thunder Hill Road in Freetown, her mother was shot in her veranda on 10 August 10. He expressed disappointment that since her death he had not been allowed access to her corpse, until yesterday (30 August).
“I am ashamed to tell anyone of the condition I met her in”, Ibrahim said. He went on to say that he was an eyewitness when she was shot for the second time which led to her death.
“The first bullet which my mother received in her left hand was aimed at my younger brother whom she was trying to save. The second one hit her neck while she was trying to save me from being shot at,” he said.
He said no authority had spoken to them since their mother’s demise, and called on those concerned to hand them her corpse so they would give her a “befitting burial”.
Alusine Koroma (Alaska) is the younger brother of the late Hassan S. Dumbuya aka Evangelist Samson who was shot dead in Makeni on the 14 August, 2022, four days after the protests. He said they were in shock to finally confirm that their brother was finally gone, noting that there had been some family members whom he said were hoping against hope that ‘Samson’ could still be alive – held in detention somewhere around the country.
He said the family had no plans to avenge his death, but urged family members and human rights organisations to seek justice for his late brother through legal means. He said their family had no record of violence whatsoever.
“The only reason, I think, that led to the death of Samson is the fact that he was identified to be a member of the opposition All People’s Congress (APC) party, which we also recognize as a family,” he said.
Koroma said officials and members of the party had all been showing solidarity with them since the incident happened. He emphasised that the family had no trust in the composition of the committee set up by government to investigate the August 10 protests.
He said “70% of the committee members” are said to be on government payroll, noting that they were not expecting any transparent outcome from their investigations. He made a plea to government to hand them his brother’s body for final respect to be accorded him.
According to a press release issued by the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) on Monday 15 August 2022, the security forces stormed a place where alleged ex-combatants had assembled and poised to make further attacks from the August 10 “insurrection.” The release went on that while the alleged ex-combatants were being pursued by the security forces, another group from a makeshift structure at Station Road in Makeni opened fire on the forces.
It said that it was during the crossfire that Hassan was killed, and highlighted four people who were arrested during the raid.
The family refutes that account of events saying Hassan was deliberately killed.
Meanwhile a lawyer acting on behalf of the family has written to the Minister of Internal Affairs requesting for the body.
In a letter dated 29 August, Lansana Dumbuya said the body was no property of the state and should therefore be handed over to the family. He writes that the government “has no right within the laws of Sierra Leone to continue to hold on to the said corpse”.
Minister of Internal Affairs, Panda Noah, told Politico that a committee set up on the matter, led by the Chief Minister, would meet today to determine the next steps. Asked whether the bodies would be handed over to the families, he said that would be determined by the committee. He said an autopsy would first have to be carried out on all the bodies before that determination was made.
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