The authorities in Sierra Leone declared a nationwide curfew on Sunday, hours after what they described as a thwarted effort by unidentified males to interrupt into one of many West African nation’s key navy armories and barracks.
The nation’s president, Julius Maada Bio, stated early Sunday that there had been “a breach of safety” on the Wilberforce navy barracks within the capital, Freetown, as “some unidentified people attacked the navy armory.”
“Nonetheless, they have been repelled,” Mr. Bio stated on social media, “and calm has been restored.”
Mr. Bio referred to as on the general public to remain indoors, including: “We will proceed to guard the peace and safety of Sierra Leone in opposition to the forces that want to truncate our much-cherished stability.”
The barracks are strategically positioned close to Mr. Bio’s residence, and the armory is among the most vital locations the place weapons are saved. In keeping with native journalists, heavy gunfire was heard early Sunday in Freetown, and troopers with rocket-propelled grenades and rifles might be seen organising navy blockades in some strategic elements of the town.
The information reverberated throughout the area, which in recent times has endured a sequence of navy coups. In Guinea, Sierra Leone’s neighbor, a junta guidelines regardless of worldwide efforts to revive civilian governments.
Mr. Bio, 59, a former navy officer who took half in two coups throughout Sierra Leone’s civil battle within the Nineties, was re-elected this yr. However the results of the vote was rejected by his foremost opponent, and questioned by some observers who cited a scarcity of transparency.
The U.S. Embassy condemned “within the strongest potential phrases” Sunday’s tried break-in, and urged residents to cooperate with authorities safety forces. “Such actions don’t have any justification,” it stated in an announcement.
Beneath Mr. Bio’s management, a further a million kids in Sierra Leone have begun attending college. However the nation has been battling file ranges of inflation and unemployment, and a number of the highest ranges of meals insecurity in West Africa. He has additionally been accused of overseeing violent repression of protests, together with in the summertime of 2022, when greater than two dozen individuals died in demonstrations in opposition to rising costs.
It is a creating story.
Joseph Johnson contributed reporting.
