By Alpha Abu
A Press Release from Sierra Leone’s Security Sector has assured citizens that the sector is in full control of the situation in the country and for them not to heed what it says are “calls for faceless demonstrations”.
Social media has been inundated lately with texts, audio, and video messages by persons calling for a nationwide protest against the Government, starting this Monday.
The statement released on Saturday asserted that neither a recognised group of persons have followed due process of soliciting official permission from the Police verbally or in writing for such an action, nor has a figurehead or organiser for the much-publicised protest come forward.
It re-assured that the security sector was obligated to protect the citizenry and their properties and that it would ensure stability across the country. People were advised to go about their normal business.
In a related development, Human Rights Defenders- Sierra Leone (HRD-SL) also in a press statement released on Saturday, urged the Police to create an “enabling environment”, for an engagement with the “would-be leaders of the proposed assembly and association”.
While stressing that the Police must “guarantee the protection of organisers of any form of peaceful assembly, it also highlighted that they should ensure the safety of those citizens not involved in such an assembly. But concern was also expressed over the invisibility of the leadership of the talked-about demonstration.
According to the HRD-SL statement, the protest based on the nature surrounding the particular demonstration would create panic and cause the insecurity of peaceful citizens.
There has been an upsurge in the use of inflammatory messages on social media in recent times, creating alarm amongst the populace.
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