Security in Freetown, Lungi, Port Loko worsens

Lawlessness and banditry are on the increase in and around Freetown, in nearby Lungi and in Port Loko, northeast of the Sierra Leone capital, UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, said in a report dated 11 January. “Many ceasefire violations and incidents of civilian harassment appear to have been committed by former Sierra Leonean army elements based in the Occra Hills region,” Annan said. “The law and order situation (in Freetown) is deteriorating with increased armed robberies, fake checkpoints mounted by ex-rebels and young men who stop cars and ask for money,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported in its humanitarian update of 12 January. The report adds that although robberies are not directed particularly at expatriates, some houses and offices of international NGOs have been visited but no serious losses have been reported. Annan said attempts to smuggle weapons into Freetown have prompted the government and the West African peacekeeping force, ECOMOG, to take supplementary security measures.