Thousands protest at Sankoh’s home

Thousands of protesters carrying banners marched on Monday on the Freetown home of rebel leader Foday Sankoh, calling him a “monster and killer” and saying he must go, a media source told IRIN.

He said the some 8,000 to 9,000 demonstrators comprised doctors, lawyers, teachers, petty traders, union leaders and others fed up with the behaviour of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and the detention by the rebels of hundreds of UN peacekeeping troops, which many in civil society saw as part of a plan to seize power.

Journalists from ‘The Vision’ newspaper who were at the scene said RUF members fired on the protesters as they approached Sankoh’s home, killing at least four people. The media source told IRIN that some 20 people were admitted to the Connaught Hospital, the main one in Freetown.

Hundreds of loyal Sierra Leone Army (SLA) troops backed by pro-government Civil Defence Forces militiamen have surrounded Sankoh’s home, according to the source, who said: “Sankoh can’t come out. It would be fatal for him to do so.”

Various sources said the rest of the city was quiet although pedestrians and cars were seen moving about, but stores and offices remained shut.

Monday’s protest followed another on Saturday by the Women’s Forum, grouping bodies from different sectors of society. They demanded Sankoh’s full compliance with the Lome Peace Accord, condemned the killing and detention of UN peacekeepers and called for the release of all abductees, the BBC reported.

The RUF’s erstwhile ally, the former Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), has said it will now back the government. Ex-AFRC leader Johnny Paul Koroma, called on his followers - most of them former members of the Sierra Leone Army (ex-SLA) - to help the SLA defend the country against the RUF.

Media sources in Freetown told IRIN on Monday that bands of ex-SLA/AFRC members were “ensuring security” in Freetown by searching out RUF rebels.