By Mabinty M. Kamara
Police in Kenema have said they do not have the necessary logistics to properly secure the region. Politico’s investigation in the district showed that the Kenema Police station doesn’t have a vehicle to respond to calls or conduct patrols within the district.
Through our weeklong observation, we learnt that officers trek in groups to do patrol within Kenema city. They also hire motorbikes to attend to cases in far distances under extreme circumstances.
The Kenema Police Division is a regional center that is responsible to Police six areas in the district: Kenema, Tongo, Kailahun, Daru, Motema and Tankoro. According to the Regional Crime Officer, Detective Superintendent Michael Lagga, all these areas are manned without a single patrol vehicle or motor bike.
He said: “Let’s say a crime is being committed at Ahmadiyya, we don’t even have functional motor bikes to go there, let alone vehicles. We don’t have vehicles to move on to that location and most of these criminals work in groups using vehicles. Currently, the patrol vehicle is down so there is no vehicle for patrol and that’s a major challenge,”
Residents in Kenema feel the city is safer now compared to a year or two ago. This success has largely been achieved by the collaborative efforts of the people, police and the military.
Military Aid to Civil Power (MACP) had been invoked to help curb a high spate of robbery, murder and violence that had plagued the town.
Augustine Sannoh, a civil Society Activist residing within the district, praised the state of security compared to 2017 when robbers were so brazen.
“In terms of security, sometime ago it was very bad for Kenema as people hardly go to bed with peace of mind for fear of being attacked at night. It even got to a point that they will write threat letters informing people of their next target area. For instance, they will say, Simbeck, we are coming to you this week,” Sannoh said.
He added: “but thank God with the introduction of MAC P, where the Police is now working in consonance with the military, those capital crimes have actually reduced. You hardly hear of robbery now or burglary.”
But there are concerns about the sustainability of this fragile peace and security in the district, in light of the logistical nightmare the Police in the region is facing.
Lamrana Bah, a merchant at Railway Line, said: “When Caro (AIG Caro) came newly, everywhere was cool and calm, but as he spent more time here it seems he got used to the criminals and things started getting worse than ever. But I pray that the security situation will even improve more than it is now,” he said.
Fatmata Kamara, a fish trader, told Politico that she wanted the collaboration between the Police and Military to continue.
“There was a time I was attacked at night coming from my business place and I lost a huge sum of money. During this Christmas, they started again, but it was short lived. We really want the police and the soldiers to continue what they have started, visiting those cartels and ghettos, because they are the roots cause of all criminal activities here,” she said.
Sup. Lagga said the current security situation has also been enabled by outreach programs to the public. He said they had collaborated with community based non-governmental organizations to reach out to youths and even retrain them.
But all of these are just secondary measures, according to Lagga, who noted that even their communication set now malfunctions.
But the lack of vehicles for their work is by far the most urgent, he said.
“Our response time is slow, because we have to hire motor bikes,” he said.
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