President Julius Maada Bio has lifted Sierra Leone’s nighttime curfew, which was enforced after armed men freed prison inmates.
Sierra Leone has lifted the night-time curfew imposed in the wake of a prison breakout from Freetown’s Pademba Road Prison. The release of detainees from several “major” facilities occurred on Sunday morning, as reported by the West African nation’s information minister.
President Julius Maada Bio addressed the nation in a televised statement, characterizing the events as a “breach of security” and an attack on democracy. While careful not to label it an attempted coup, he announced the arrest of most leaders responsible for the attack. The President did not provide specific details about the perpetrators or their motives.
A new nine-hour night-time curfew, starting at 21:00 local time (21:00 GMT), is set to be implemented on Monday, according to the information ministry.
The political climate in Sierra Leone has remained tense since President Bio’s re-election in June, narrowly avoiding a runoff. International observers criticized the electoral process for inconsistencies, lack of transparency in the count, and incidents of violence and intimidation.
Following the prison breakout, an immediate curfew was declared by the Ministry of Information, initially scheduled to be lifted at 06:00 GMT on Monday. Residents were strongly advised to stay indoors, and flights to and from the country’s sole international airport were canceled.
On Sunday morning, BBC witnessed soldiers in Freetown with heavy weaponry in a seized police vehicle, expressing intentions to “clean Sierra Leone.” The exact number of released prisoners is unclear, but social media videos showed individuals fleeing from Freetown’s Central Pademba Road prison. One video suggested the escape of popular rapper Boss LAJ, who was imprisoned last year on robbery charges; however, the authenticity of these videos has not been verified.
In August, several soldiers were arrested and accused of plotting a coup against the president. The recent events in Sierra Leone add to the regional turmoil, with eight countries in West and Central Africa currently under military rule due to a series of coups, including neighboring Guinea.
The US, European Union, UK, and regional bloc Ecowas have all released statements strongly condemning the violence that occurred on Sunday.