By Francis H. Murray
Members of the Sierra Leone Union on Disability Issues (SLUDI) have expressed dissatisfaction over an alleged act of police brutality meted out on some of their members in Waterloo last weekend.
Authorities of the Union say a group of persons with disabilities (PWDs) from the House of Jesus for the disabled came under a “brutal and violent attack” on Saturday 17 January at the hands of certain police officers in the Waterloo Division. They say this happened during an attempt by their colleagues to start work on a plot of land they laid claim to.
The nearly two acres of land is situated off the Waterloo-Masiaka Highway.
In a press release issued on 20 January, the union noted that the plot of land was given to them by the Government of Sierra Leone on the 22 January 2020, with a large portion of it having been taken over by encroachers.
The release states that over time, encroachers started construction work on the trespassed portion and in the process unlawfully demolished the makeshift structure that was constructed by House of Jesus (HOJ).
They say the plot had been occupied with unfinished structures erected, thereby interfering with the layout of a proposed plan that would enable the gradual relocation of their House of Jesus members from their congested Bus Station and Water Street abodes.
They alleged that while they were there, the Operations Commander of the Waterloo Division arrived at the scene with his team and advised them to stop work on the land because it was disputed.
At a press conference held in Freetown, a member of the union, Mohamed Bangali said they got to the land on Saturday morning to start laying foundation for the reconstruction of their demolished structure.
“In the process of doing so, they were attacked by members of the police force especially the paramilitary wing of the police who swooped on our persons with disability and beat them up. In fact they insulted our national leadership, and our national SLUDI President was slapped publicly,’’ he explained.
Bangura went on that they considered the physical abuse on their members as an attack on every Sierra Leonean living with disabilities.
He said they complied and left peacefully towards the highway by 55 Junction to board transport where they were attacked by police.
He claimed that some of their members were seriously wounded during the attack, and other senior members of the union were arrested and detained.
They said that in an attempt to secure bail for their arrested members, they called on the Western Area Rural Chairman for SLUDi Alie Sesay who in turn called on the National President of SLUDI Santigue Kargbo to rush to the scene.
“On arrival at the Waterloo Police Station, the Police assumed they were there to cause mayhem and took a combative approach to their arrival, beating and forcefully taking away their crutches, compelling them to crawl on the ground like animals, despite the humble supplications of the SLUDi President,’’ they added.
Public Relations Officer for the One Family People, a local human rights organization working on equality of persons and seeking the rights of persons living with disabilities, condemned the violence against the disabled and called on the authorities to take necessary steps to bring justice to the aggrieved.
Alafi Taylor said: ‘‘The fact that the police had to be violent to even those who went there to resolve the issue and making them look very much like animals was not proper. We want the police to know that persons with disabilities deserve to be gently and kindly treated. We are asking His Excellency to look at this matter kindly and see that PWDs have justice,’’ he stated.
Barrister Julius Nye Cuffie, the CEO of Disability Confidential, Rule of Law and Democracy in Sierra Leone called on the Inspector General of Police to swiftly investigate the matter and immediately sack the officers named and identified during the attack.
He also called on the Independent Police Complaint Board to look into the conduct of the police personnel who meted out the alleged assault on the PWDs.
All efforts to get the management of the police to respond to the allegations proved unproductive.
The leadership of the Union also warned that if no action was taken to address the issue and bring to justice those who deserved it, they would stage a nationwide demonstration to get the appropriate authorities to act.
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