A commercial motorbike (Okada) rider in Bo died yesterday after a bike chase on the Kenema highway. The chairman of the Bike Riders Association in Bo said that it all started on Monday morning when the deceased was trying to avoid arrest by a traffic warden because he was allegedly riding without a crash helmet.
Sorie Saccoh told Politico that the rider was trying to avoid arrest by taking a sharp bend along the Kenema highway when his bike skidded and fell on the ground, hit his head on a brick and apparently died on the spot.
Saccoh said on their way from the burial, bike riders attacked the central police station which led to violent confrontation with the police.
The head of police media in Bo, Inspector Abubakar Sidique Kamara told Politico that the central police station in Bo came under attack by commercial bike riders after the burial of their colleague who died during a bike chase. He said the riders pelted stones and other missiles at the police station and allegedly damaged some vehicle windscreens.
Inspector Kamara said that although investigations into the matter were on-going, they had received "intelligence report" that the bike rider was chased by one of their [bike riders'] own taskforce members and not a traffic warden as alleged. He said also that the Residence Minister in Bo was attacked by the mob, an allegation which the minister himself corroborated when contacted by Politico.
Meanwhile, Bo an uneasy calm is said to have been restored to the southern regional headquarter town after a joint military and police intervention.
(C) Politico 11/06/14
