By Hassan Y. Koroma
The Sierra Leone Police (SLP) last Thursday tear-gassed and beat traders at Abacha Street, in central Freetown, whilst they were protesting against the destruction of their stalls.
Since the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) took over in 2018, traders at Abacha Street who have never shied away from showing their unflinching support for the All People’s Congress (APC), have been coming under series of attacks from security forces who always claimed that they are enforcing a “street trading ban order”.
It could be recalled that immediately after the announcement of the controversial June 24 Presidential Election result by the Chief Electoral Commissioner Mohamed Konneh this year, supporters of the ruling SLPP stormed Abacha Street and started destroying stalls and kiosks.
Last Thursday’s police raid is seen by many political pundits as one of the systematic ploys by the SLPP government to dislodge traders at Abacha Street when the government is yet to find an alternative business place for them, like the Sewa Ground Market, in the Central Business District (CBD).
What is disheartening is the fact that most of those traders at Abacha Street are breadwinners who are trying to save monies to pay school fees and provide transportation and lunch for their children as the reopening of schools is just around the corner.
Reliable sources informed The Nationalist that during last Thursday’s police operation, a number of traders were arrested but only few were later released after several interventions by stakeholders including the Freetown City Council (FCC) Deputy Mayor-elect of the APC.
Many of the affected traders whom The Nationalist spoke to claimed that the Government’s action was “politically motivated” as they were not given prior notice nor were they engaged for other options.
The police are said to have carried out similar operations on that day in other parts of the city including Lumley and Wilberforce, west of the capital.