Summary:
- Sierra Leone has temporarily lifted the night-time curfew imposed following the release of inmates by armed men, with President Julius Maada Bio announcing the arrest of most leaders involved in the security breach, described as an attack on democracy but carefully avoiding the term “attempted coup”; a new nine-hour curfew will start at 21:00 local time on Monday amid ongoing political tension since the president’s contested re-election in June.
Sierra Leone’s night-time curfew imposed after armed men freed prison inmates has been lifted for now.
Detainees from a number of “major” facilities were released on Sunday morning, said the West African nation’s information minister.
President Julius Maada Bio later said most of the leaders behind the attack had been arrested.
In a televised address, he described the events as a “breach of security” and an attack on democracy.
He carefully avoided calling them an attempted coup.
He said calm had been restored but gave no details about who the perpetrators were or what they wanted.
There will be a new nine-hour night-time curfew beginning at 21:00 local time (21:00 GMT) on Monday, the information ministry says.
The political situation in Sierra Leone has remained tense since June, when President Bio was re-elected – narrowly missing out on the need to have a run-off.
International observers have condemned inconsistencies and a lack of transparency in the count, as well as acts of violence and intimidation.
After the attack, the Ministry of Information declared an immediate curfew, which was due to be lifted at 06:00 (GMT) on Monday. Residents across the country were “strongly” recommended to stay indoors and flights to and from the nation’s only international airport have been cancelled.
On Sunday morning, the BBC witnessed soldiers in Freetown carrying heavy weaponry in a seized police vehicle and saw others chanting that they planned to “clean Sierra Leone”.
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