Mousa E. Massaquoi: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 3 October 2018:
Director of Operations at the Sierra Leone police – Assistant Inspector General (AIG) Elizabeth Augusta Turay, has confirmed that the Regional Commander for the North-West – AIG Amos Kargbo has been suspended due to neglect of duty.
She said the suspended police commander is going to be investigated by the Complaint Discipline Internal Investigations Department (CDIID) of the police.
She made the confirmation yesterday at the police headquarters whilst updating the public about a number of issues across the country.
She recalled that on Saturday 29 September 2018, there was a bye-election in Ward 196 in Tonko Limba chiefdom, Kambia district, which was policed by the Local Unit Commander (LUC) of the Kambia Division, Chief Superintendent Alimamy Bangura.
She said that at some point during the election, the security situation deteriorated to a level that the LUC requested for military support which was granted.
AIG Turay disclosed that during and after the election, they contacted AIG Amos Kargbo as the Regional Commander to give an update about the situation, but he was unreachable. (Photo: Assistant Inspector General of Police Elizabeth Augusta Turay – sitting right).
“We contacted him on many occasions and we did not get him, and we were expecting him to call and update us, but fail to do so. After the election, we were still expecting his calls, but he never did and only the LUC was making effort to update us even though the area has poor communication network,” she stated.
The Director of Operations averred that according to the chain of command in the Sierra Leone police, LUC Alimamy Bangura should have reported the incident to AIG Amos Kargbo who has the responsibility to update police headquarters. But she said, this did not happen.
In another development, Assistant Inspector General (AIG) Elizabeth Augusta Turay reported that, in an effort to strengthen security at the Lungi International Airport, the police is going to increase police presence across the entire airport.
She said that 20 OSD officers, 20 RSLAF officers and 6 fire force officers will be added to the security personnel, alongside other security personnel that are already based at the airport to address the security issue at the airport.
In an addendum, she said that for the past few weeks, the police have apprehended foreign currencies, gold, diamonds, free health care drugs, and quantities of free education materials in the possession of people trying to smuggle them out of the airport and other borders.
She assured that, “the Sierra Leone police in collaboration of other security agencies will continue to undertake robust nationwide security operations, aimed at preserving the safety and security of the state.”
AIG Turay added that the public will see an heightened police presence on the Streets, along with police vehicular checkpoints at strategic locations, targeted raids, and stop and search.
The police will also be carrying out effective community engagements and joint police and military deployment at Lungi airport in order to improve public safety and security.
Congratulations to the Sierra Leone police trying to diffuse the heightened problems in the country especially Northwest Region. We need active participation of the police and the military personel to do their duties. People trying to smuggle school materials are those who hate the country and her people. Thanks very much brothers and sisters. Working together we will be able to get a new Sierra Leone.