Anti-government protesters have clashed with police within the capital metropolis of Sierra Leone over the rising price of dwelling.
Vice President Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh confirmed that there had been fatalities within the clashes in Freetown.
Six cops and at the very least 21 civilians have been killed, in keeping with police and different Reuters sources.
In a nationwide broadcast, Jalloh additionally introduced a nationwide curfew from 15:00 on Wednesday in a bid to stem the violence.
“These unscrupulous people have launched into a violent and an unauthorised protest, which has led to the lack of lives of harmless Sierra Leoneans together with safety personnel,” Jalloh stated, including that some public buildings together with police stations had been attacked and burned down.
Protesters have referred to as for the departure of Sierra Leone's President Julius Maada Bio, who was elected in 2018 and nonetheless has 10 months left in his time period. Demonstrators chanted “Bio should go” as they made their approach by the streets of Freetown.
The price of dwelling in Sierra Leone has risen by greater than 40% inside the previous couple of months, whereas electrical energy and gasoline costs even have spiked.
The federal government has criticised the unidentified organisers of the protest, warning that the nation already has suffered sufficient after greater than a decade of civil battle that led to 2002.
“Sierra Leone has gone by loads so allow us to change the trajectory and never permit folks to divide us,” Abdul Karim Will, spokesman for the Workplace of Nationwide Safety, advised the nationwide radio broadcaster earlier within the day.
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