—As President Julius Maada Bio, held up in the Gambia

IPNEWS: At least forty-two persons are fear dead in overnight clashes in the Sierra Leone Capital Freetown.

According to medical sources inside Freetown, Health workers and members of the International Red Cross were still collecting bodies from a police garrison near the capital of Freetown.

“I can tell you from the tally we have so far, the dead are at least forty-two bodies. Among the dead are youths between ages fourteen to twenty-seven.” A Medical Worker inside Freetown told IPNEWS via an international line.

At the Connaught Hospital in Freetown, scrolls of young men with blouses and bullet wounds were seen at the emergency wall, with limited Health workers at work due to fear.

In the North, at the Sierra Leone Police Hospital, wounded Police officers were undergoing treatment sustained during the fracas which began Monday, and intensified throughout Wednesday, August 10, 2022.

The internet services remain shut down since yesterday, Wednesday, and the curfew imposed by the government at 3 p.m. remains enforced.

There were clashes with personnel of the Sierra Leone military at the Lungi International Airport, overnight following reports that President Julius Maada Bio, was returning from neighboring Gambia where he is currently held up due to security concerns.

Earlier today, Police authorities reported that at least Six police officers were killed in anti-government protests in northern and western Sierra Leone on Wednesday.

police inspector general William Fayia Sellu told reporters that two officers were killed in the capital, Freetown, three in the northern town of Kamakwie and one in the northern city of Makeni, police inspector general William Fayia Sellu told reporters.

Protests were concentrated in the north and west – opposition heartlands – of the West African country. At least two civilians also died in coastal Freetown.

Sierra Leone’s government previously said that there had been deaths, but not how many, as hundreds of protesters threw rocks and burned tyres in the streets out of frustration at worsening economic hardship and other issues.

The internet was shut down on Wednesday and the government imposed a 3 p.m. curfew in a bid to stem the violence.

The West African country, which has been struggling with rising inflation and a fuel crisis, imposed a nationwide curfew from 3 p.m. local time (1500 GMT) in a bid to stem the violence.

“As a government, we have the responsibility to protect every citizen of Sierra Leone. What happened today was unfortunate and will be fully investigated,” said President Julius Maada Bio on Twitter.

In addition to the three bodies at the mortuary, a Reuters reporter saw another civilian body on a street in eastern Freetown.

The police chief and spokesman could not be reached for comment.

Videos on social media verified by Reuters showed large crowds of protesters and piles of burning tyres in parts of the capital, Freetown. Other footage showed a group of young men throwing rocks on a street filled with whitish smoke. Discontent has been boiling over for a number of reasons, including a perceived lack of government support for ordinary people who are struggling, said Augustine Sorie-Sengbe Marrah, a constitutional lawyer and governance activist.

“There has been little empathy from the central government to encourage folks that they see them suffering and that they understand these are tough economic times,” he told Reuters.

Long-standing frustration has also been exacerbated by rising prices for basic goods in Sierra Leone, where more than half the population of around 8 million lives below the poverty line, according to the World Bank.

Earlier on Wednesday, internet observatory, NetBlocks said Sierra Leone faced a near-total internet shutdown during the protests, with national connectivity at 5% of ordinary levels.

Additionally, Tuesday, August 9, the national security coordinator asked the armed forces to be prepared to back up the police from Aug. 9-12, warning of a “potentially volatile security situation”, according to an internal letter shared widely online.

In related development, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Mano River Union (MRU) have sharply reacted to the violent protests in a number of places in Sierra Leone, including the Capital city, Freedom, where it was reported that at least 3 persons were killed on Wednesday, August 10, 2022 and call for calm and prosecution of the perpetrators just as the government has imposed an indefinite curfew to avert further widespread of the crisis.

The regional body, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) condemned the violence and called in a Twitter post for “all to obey law and order and for the perpetrators of the violence to be identified and brought before the law.”

Commenting also on the protest, the Executive Secretary of the Mano River Union, Mrs. Medina Wesseh in a social media post said the organization is deeply concerned over the protests of Monday 8th and Wednesday, 10th August 2022 in Sierra Leone and that it condemned the violent protest of Wednesday August 10 that led to the loss of human lives and the destruction of properties.

“The Mano River Union Secretariat calls for calm and is ready to join other international partners to encourage national dialogue”, the Madam Wesseh concluded.

Meanwhile, the European Commission and the European Union have called on all sides involved in the protest in Sierra Leone to refrain from violence and stay calm.

The EU in a statement via Twitter on Thursday stated that: “Receiving disturbing reports of violent acts in the context of demonstrations in some parts of Freetown. EU Delegation encourages all sides to refrain from violence and to stay calm. Sierra Leone is known as a peaceful country.”

Report coming in from the Gambia, says Sierra Leonean President, Julius Maada Bio has promised to launch a full investigation into the incident that left several peaceful citizens of the country dead including a police officer and others wounded.

This happened when scores of aggrieved citizens of the country peacefully took to the main streets, alarmed over the hard-living conditions under the regime of President Bio.

During their actions, reports said Sierra Leonean police officers fired teargas at the protesters, and they retaliated with the throwing of stones as was displayed on video via social media. ​