By Septimus Senessie in Kono
Scores of people have been detained in Koidu Town, Kono District in the east of Sierra Leone after a surprised late evening raid on Wednesday.
It was unclear by the time we went to press why the raid was conducted, but police said it`s in relation to efforts to enforce the Ebola byelaws enacted to prevent the spread of the deadly viral disease.
The raid was jointly carried out by well armed soldiers from the 9th
Infantry Battalion at Semboro Village in Gbense Chiefdom and Police
personnel from both Tankoro and Motema police divisions.
Among those arrested were businesspeople, and some NGO workers had their motor bikes confiscated.
Chief Superintendent of Police, David Sahid Koroma, the Local Unit Commander of the Tankoro Police Division, could not immediately explain the reason for the raid when approached by Politico. But he only said they were conducting the exercise as a way of reminding people of the district who had already become complacent that the war against Ebola was still on. He said people had begun engaging in practices that encouraged the spread of the virus.
David stressed that the raid would go on until the fight against Ebola was over in the whole country. He said the Wednesday raid targeted business people and Okada riders and vowed that all those caught would be charged to court.
He therefore called on the people to abide by the Ebola bylaws in the
district and report any strange person in their communities, noting that the search for the five people who broke quarantined measures in the north of the country was still on going.
Kono District has clocked 88 days without any new Ebola case as at 20th May 2015.
The head of the Ebola Surveillance Unit at the Kono District Ebola Response Centre, Tamba Morsay, said the raid was not a new one.
© Politico 21/05/15
