By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
A major search is underway for a police officer who went missing during operation in Tonkolili District.
Sergeant Nathaniel Lamin, who went missing since 17 March, is feared dead, a police spokesman said.
Superintendent Samuel Saio Conteh, Deputy Head of Police Media, told Politico that they had unconfirmed reports that Lamin was beaten to death.
“Some people in the area have told us that the officer was beaten to death. However, we haven’t seen any evidence of that because his body has not been recovered,” Conteh said on a telephone interview.
He added that they mounted a search for him, noting that 11 people had been arrested in connection to the disappearance of the officer.
“We are hoping they will help us with the investigation,” Conteh said.
The Police situation report on the incident, a copy of which was seen by Politico, states that Sgt Lamin went missing after an operation in Mano Village, 20 kilometers from Magburaka, the district headquarters of Tonkolilili. The report further states that Sgt Lamin was part of a seven-man team that went to the village to conduct the operation.
It wasn’t immediately clear what kind of operation it was.
The police report suggests that the team was pelted with stones, forcing the officers to rush back into their vehicle to return as they were unarmed. As a result of the scramble, the reports goes on, the team only realized that Lamin had gone missing after they had arrived back in Magburaka.
Some other officers were reportedly wounded during the incident.
The report further states that the Crime Officer of the Magburaka Division denied any knowledge of the operation or Sgt Lamin’s inclusion in any team to undertake any operation.
Politico could not reach the Division Head in Magburaka to confirm this.
A Magburaka-based journalist told Politico that the Police in the town had not been helpful in terms of providing information to answer to growing concerns from the public.
Politico understands that on Saturday, Minister of Youth Affairs, Mohamed Orman Bangura, travelled to the village to investigate the incident.
When contacted, Minister Bangura said they couldn’t see the body after hours of search.
“We have been in the field with around 40 to 50 police officers, searching” he said, declining to comment further for fear of jeopardizing the investigation.
Sgt Lamin was recently transferred to Magburaka from the Waterloo Division where he had served as an investigator at the Criminal Investigations Department for 17 years, according to the police report.
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