In a grave development, Sierra Leone’s president instated a nationwide curfew on Sunday following a brazen attack by gunmen on the capital’s primary military barracks, marking a perilous escalation as the assailants also seized control of detention centers, including a major prison.
The incident has sparked concerns of a potential breakdown in order, echoing a worrisome trend of coups across the region. West and central African nations have witnessed a surge in military coups in recent years, with Niger and Gabon experiencing government overthrow this year alone. Additionally, there were coup attempts in Burkina Faso and Sudan, the latter now engulfed in civil strife.
As security forces engaged in sustained shootouts at the Wilberforce military barracks, detention centers, including the significant Pademba Road Prisons housing over 2,000 inmates, fell prey to the attackers, according to Information Minister Chernor Bah.
“The prisons were overrun, (and) some prisoners were abducted by the assailants while many others were released,” disclosed Bah. Security forces, however, managed to repel the assailants to the city’s outskirts, where the clashes persist.
Responding to the gravity of the situation, President Julius Maada Bio declared a nationwide curfew. Despite assurances from the government and security forces that they are in control, reports of gunshots persisted in the capital, leaving uncertainty about the identity of those involved in the exchanges and any subsequent arrests.
Information Minister Bah emphasized that security forces were making progress in the operation to quell and apprehend the attackers, maintaining that the government remains in control. Both the president and the Ministry of Information and Education sought to allay concerns of an escalation of violence in the country, whose 8-million-strong population ranks among the world’s poorest, with some of the lowest scores on the U.N. Human Development Index.
Details surrounding the gunmen and the motive behind the attack remain shrouded in mystery. The incident comes months after President Bio secured a controversial second term in a disputed vote, with the main opposition party accusing the electoral commission of rigging the results.