“Yes, there is a prison break. I can’t say more,” the source told the Spanish news agency, adding that the gunmen broke into the Freetown Central Prison, also known as Pademba Road Prison, and released dozens of detainees.
Popular music star Alhaji Amadu Bah, also known as LAJ, who is serving a prison sentence for robbery and assault in June this year, is among the prisoners who escaped from prison, several videos posted on social media show.
The prison invasion came after the same group attacked the Wilberforce military barracks, one of the largest in the West African country and the main barracks of the Sierra Leonean army, in the early hours of the morning, prompting Sierra Leonean authorities to impose a mandatory curfew at the national level .
Shortly after imposing the curfew, Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio pledged to defend peace and democracy in the country.
After the attack, concerns grew in the capital for the safety of its residents.
Adama Sesay, 60, a resident of Freetown, told EFE she was worried and called on the Sierra Leonean president to restore order.
“The nation is not safe. This is not good for us as a nation. These criminals are dangerous. We are approaching the Christmas season. There is a serious security problem. May God help us,” the woman added.
The incident came after authorities reported on July 31 that police had arrested an unknown number of military personnel who wanted to use the peaceful protests as a pretext to attack state institutions.
Elections were held in Sierra Leone on June 24, with Bio winning with 56.17% of the vote, giving him a second fiveyear term, although the opposition contested the result.
The elections were the fifth in Sierra Leone since the end of the bloody civil war (19912002) that devastated the country and claimed more than 50,000 lives.
The vote took place in the shadow of the August 10, 2022 protests against the high cost of living, which were harshly repressed by security forces and in which at least 27 civilians and six police officers were killed.
Bio, a former brigadier in the Sierra Leone army, ruled the country as a dictator for two and a half months in 1996 after a coup began the process of holding multiparty democratic elections.
Also read: Video shows robbery of former Brazilian international player in Rio de Janeiro
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