By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
The Iron Ore miner, SL Mining Limited, has expressed concern over the arrest of five of its expatriate workers in Sierra Leone. The company said the five workers were arrested last Wednesday May 13th by the Sierra Leone Police on suspicion of inciting a riot that happened in Lunsar on April 30th.
The five included two British nationals, one Indian, one South African and a dual citizen of Sierra Leone and United States.
In a statement by the company on Saturday, 16th May, it denied any involvement of its staff, citing findings of an internal investigation.
“SL Mining does not condone any such behavior from its management or employees and immediately reviewed the situation of April 30th, performed its own internal investigation and concluded that SL Mining and its management team were not in any way in the local riot,” the statement read.
The riot happened in the Northern town of Lunsar where the company operates. Youths went irate after a youth leader was arrested by the police following a complaint by the Paramount Chief, Bai Koblo Quee II.
Properties were destroyed and the house of the paramount chief was torched.
Prior to the riot, tensions had been mounting in the town after youths accused the Chief of conniving with the government to shut down the mines.
In the wake of the incident, the Police chief of the town, Chief Superintendent Gibril Mohamed Turay was recalled and subjected to investigation for his handling ot the situation. Politico learnt that he was later dismissed from the force.
Turay blamed his superior, the regional boss in the Northern region, AIG Thomas Lahai, for undermining his authority and setting him up to fail.
The arrests of the five foreign nationals was ordered by his successor, according to sources.
Police told Politico on Tuesday, 19th May that the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) was now handling the case. A spokesman couldn’t say when the accused would be charged.
Deputy Head of Media at the Sierra Leone Police, Assistant Superintendent Samuel Sio Conteh, said: “Charges will be brought soon. I can’t say when that will be exactly, because the investigation is still ongoing. Right now they are in Bo on the same investigation. The CID in Freetown is handling the case. So the trails of the case took them to Bo and they will be here (Freetown) tomorrow or next tomorrow,” Conteh said.
“When they come, then we would have completed our charges,” he added.
The company and the Sierra Leone government are in a standoff over its mining license after government alleged that the company went against the country’s mining laws.
The company has repeatedly denied the allegation and has challenged the government’s decision in court.
The International Chamber of Commerce has already ruled in favor of the company in the case. But government is yet to comply with the ruling.
The company’s operation has been halted since 2019.
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