President Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone suspended a cabinet minister on Sunday, May 10th, 2020 after he allegedly threatened to kill protesters, after a recent outpouring of violent encounters in the West African state.

The move comes after the president accused the political opposition of inciting the recent violence in which over a dozen people lost their lives, and which in some cases has been linked to coronavirus restrictions.

Bio’s office said in a statement that it had suspended Abu Abu Koroma, a minister for Sierra Leone’s northern province, an opposition stronghold, for

unacceptable conduct and public remarks.

A viral video circulating on social media, which AFP was unable to independently verify, appears to show Koroma warning a crowd that rioters would be shot dead.

We will kill you if death is what you prefer,

Koroma appears to say in the video, speaking in a mixture of Themne and Krio.

Any youth who misbehaves, we will break your legs and go after your mother and father,

he appears to add.

On Saturday, May 9th, 2020, Bio addressed the West African nation during a televised live broadcast, and accused members of the opposition party, All People’s Congress (APC), of being behind Sierra Leone’s recent violent incidents.

Eleven (11) people were killed in one such ugly incident last month, in an attempted jailbreak in the capital, Freetown, which happened after an inmate tested positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The APC are yet to comment on the allegation.

As of Sunday, May 10th, 2020, health authorities in Sierra Leone have recorded three hundred and seven (307) confirmed coronavirus cases, with eighteen (18) deaths.

Bio, who was briefly the leader of a military junta over two decades ago, took office in 2018 after a tumultuous election campaign which ended APC’s decade-long spell in power.

Sierra Leone is among the poorest countries in the world and is still recovering from the 1991-2002 civil war which claimed the lives of about 120,000 people.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.