By Milton Margai
In a society where the police are compromised and are woefully failing in the battle against crime and the maintenance of law and order, mob justice has the potential to thrive. The photos below are those of young people killed recently in Sierra Leone in unlawful circumstances. One is an alleged thief killed by a mob. The other is the corpse of a bright secondary school boy gunned down in cold blood during a ‘riot’.
Have we not learnt anything from the brutal war? Are these scenes not reminiscent of the darkest moments of our country’s history? The nation is still healing but such nightmarish scenes are bound to open fresh wounds.
I’m tired of calling God to help because I know He has blessed us with a lot. He has helped us with a lot. It’s unfair to test His patience.
Why are all those supposed to be monitoring and regulating the police quiet when the youth and older citizens continue to die unlawfully? Some might argue that "thief" deserved what he got. But is that how you punish a thief - by beating him to death?
Some might also argue that the students should not be engaging in "riots", but is that how the "protectors" of life and property, the "maintainers" of law and order and the "investigators" of crime, respond to riots involving students - the future leaders? Firing live rounds indiscriminately and killing in cold blood is abhorrent. It is worrying to say the least.
Some are calling for IG Munu to go and one would happily endorse that. He seems to have lost the plot a long time ago. That he’s still there beggars belief. Recently, it was alleged that he withdrew two police officers protecting an opposition leader simply because the politician criticised the police in the matter involving the slain student.
Are the police a law unto themselves? Who watches the watchman? Is there no more right to life in Sierra Leone? As I write, there are multiple cases where the citizens have been at the unlucky end of the trigger-happy cops’ firearms, but nothing came out of them to restore the confidence of the citizenry. we will all just continue to be killed until there is no one left to kill.
Milton Margai is a London-based social sciences/criminology and research graduate. He's a freelance journalist and writer. Milton hosts radio programmes on the online Voices from the Diaspora radio.
(C) Politico 21/11/13
