Investigation mounted by this medium over an attack of a female politician is presently making rounds on social media after she narrowly escaped death.
Martha Koroma, a resident of 14E Old Main Motor Road, Calaba town, East End of Freetown, also a known supporter of the main opposition All People’s Congress party, is among those declared wanted by the Sierra Leone Police behind the August 10 Protest.
Youths believed to be ruling party operatives are alleged to have identified Martha Koroma as a major suspect in the August 10 protest, which claimed the lives of police officers and civilians. They accused her of being an opposition party operative, revealing how she has disappeared and gone into hiding and her whereabouts unknown.
According to eye witnesses , Madam Martha Koroma was first attacked by a group of youths known to be ruling SLPP operatives, known as “SLPP Soja Team”, and one was said to be wearing the party’s T-Shirt bearing the picture of the current President Julius Maada Bio, and the party’s logo. It was disclosed that she was mercilessly beaten by these youths and rescued by some police officers at the Central Police Station in Freetown.
One of the women, who spoke to this medium on the basis of anonymity, explained that she heard the youths threatening to kill Martha Koroma and that they were sent to get rid of her, on allegation that she was planted by the main opposition party as a spy to get information about the ruling SLPP Government. She maintained that she and some police officers had to intervene to stop the guys from beating her to death, adding that Martha was on the ground and was being continuously kicked by the youths when they arrived at the scene. When the police arrived, the other youths disappeared and only one of them was apprehended and taken to the station, while Martha was taken to hospital.
To know more about the reason for the attack, this medium visited Martha at the hospital in Freetown, where she explained her ordeal to us. She disclosed that she has been a victim of harassment because of her name and place of birth, which is in the northern city of Makeni, a known stronghold of the main opposition party, APC. She furthered that since her name, Koroma, is common and indigenous to the northern city, she became an obvious target of members of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), and has been harassed continually and accused of being a sympathizer of the APC party. Martha Koroma told Times SL that ever since she was labelled as a stooge of the main opposition party, she became an open political target for elimination. She also disclosed that on 31st December 2019, she was detained at the Female Correctional Centre in Freetown on trumped up allegations that were never substantiated. She furthered that while walking along Wallace Johnson Street in the central business district of Freetown, close to the SLPP Headquarters, wearing the PPP T Shirt, she was attacked by youths from the ruling party office nearby. PPP is a pressure group against the current SLPP Government, and one of their leaders, Abdul Will Kamara, popularly known as Adebayor, is presently a strong suspect declared wanted by the Bio Government. PPP has taken the responsibility of organising the August 10 Protest. The August 10 Protest was organized to express grave concern on the rising cost of goods and services, rampart human rights violation of citizens, and muzzling of free speech and the media. This did not go down well with the Bio Government, under who’s watch and leadership directives was given to the security to disperse the crowd of protesters on the street.
In all of these, when the August 10 Protest was called, Martha Koroma was again accused of being among the major planners and so her name and photos were posted in almost all SLPP social media platforms. Few days after the August 10 protest, police decided to go on operation arrest and detain all suspects behind the August 10 Protest.
Martha Koroma was in hiding at the time and could not be traced after several attempts to get her arrested.
Police spokesperson Brima Kamara said they made several attempts looking for Martha at her house, but was unable to locat her. Therefore, they decided to put her name and photos among those declared wanted for her to report to the nearest police station, but even at that she has not shown up.
