By Mohamed T Massaquoi
Police in Pujehun have expressed alarm at “a sharp rise” in armed robbery in the southern Sierra Leone district and have drafted vigilante groups to help out. They have blamed the incident an influx of shotguns in the area.
Detective Inspector Guy Patrick Chico Lansana Bussu, Crime Officer attached to the Pujehun Police Divisional Headquarters, says the situation is of serious concern.
He told Politico: “The penetration of armed robbers and the influx of shotguns are worrisome to us as police officers, considering the history of the district ranging from the civil war to its geographical nature”.
On 4 October, Bussu’s Division reportedly responded to an incident involving armed robbers who attacked a business centre in the Bandajuma Sowa community on the main road leading to neighbouring Bo District.
According to the local police chief, they couldn’t make any arrests at the time of the incident because the attackers overpowered his men. He explained that they could only manage to fire warning shots in the air, forcing the attackers to flee. The business centre is located adjacent to a police station.
Bussu said the act of the attackers amounted to an open challenge to the police. He said they were carrying offensive weapons and managed to escape with some loot, including an unspecified amount of money.
The Crime Officer said to prevent a recurrence of the incident they had since formed a vigilante group in collaboration with the community, to help the police in their operation. That effort, he went on, had already yielded fruit with police having detained one person said to be in possession of some knives similar to the ones the Bandajuma attackers reportedly carried.
The police chief said a major challenge in dealing with armed robbers is the many local hunters in the district possessing shotguns.
Bussu said they had also received intelligence that youths involving in organised crime syndicate known as cliques, have been penetrating remote parts of the district, away from the town which is more secure.Copyright (c) Politico 2016
