Youth Minister Mohamed Orman Bangura said that six officers, including six men and two women, were brutalized and killed in the area where the protests took place on Wednesday.
The protests grew violent at times. Graphic images and videos of battered and seriously injured protesters and some members of security forces can be seen on social media. Security forces were seen firing at citizens.
Bangura said he could not confirm the number of civilians killed or injured in the violent demonstrations.
We are yet to know how many people were hurt, but I can confirm that eight police officers were killed. At least 21 civilians were killed in different parts of the country, according to Reuters. According to the reports, 13 people were shot dead in Freetown and another eight were killed in Kamakwie and Makeni towns. Youth minister Bangura described the protests as an act of terrorism. They are not protesters. Protesting is different from acting as a terrorist. He said that he was going against the state, killing young police officers. The minister told CNN that the police have made some arrests while accusing the country's opposition of financing the protests. This was planned, calculated and financed by the members of the opposition All People's Congress. Bangura, a member of the Sierra Leone People's Party, said that members of the opposition paid young people to come to the street to take over governance. If the protest is a result of the cost of living, why is it not happening in all the strongholds of the current government? Why is it in Makeni that the opposition city is located? Out of 16 districts, why is it only in three districts that the opposition thinks is their stronghold? He asked. I am deeply disturbed by the images of violence in Freetown this morning. I am calling for the SecurityForces and all Freetonians to be peaceful in their interactions! Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr OBE August 10, 2022 - CNN reached out to the opposition party APC for comment, but has yet to hear back. Freetown Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, who is one of the leading politicians in the main opposition APC party, denounced the violence. In an emotional video released on Wednesda y, Aki Sawyerr pleaded for an end to the violence and said this is not about party but about people. The mayor added that she had been praying for peace and national unity in Sierra Leone along with the steering committee of religious leaders. My heart goes out to all who lost their lives and loved ones. The ones who lost property in the city were the ones who lost their property. We are brothers and sisters. She said I believe fully in peace and stand against violence and speak in the local creole dialect.