Why Journalist Ibrahim Foday Was Killed?

Concord Times (Freetown)

John Momoh

21 June 2011

analysis

Freetown — The saying goes that any journalist worth his salt must have gone to jail. This is because the hallmark of a dedicated journalist is to tell the truth, and to be sincere in portraying what is truthful while making sure that it is in the best interest of the public. In most cases however many people are often indifferent to the truth. Ibrahim Foday, who was apparently residing with his father in the K-Line of the Grafton Barracks, was killed for repeatedly advising a group of opponents to the administration of Mr. Alusine Jalloh, the democratically elected headman of the Grafton community, “not to take the law into their own hands but to consult the headman for his advice”.

In his explanation of how journalist Ibrahim Foday met his untimely death, ‘Headman Jalloh’ – as he is affectionately called – began his explanation by expressing his sincere condolences to the bereaved family of the decease. He said it all started when his opponent who lost the Headman election to him, Charles Emmanuel Wallace, inspired a group of youths in the Grafton community to go and brush a piece of land around the Pen River, the common boundary between Grafton and Kossoh Town so that it can be developed for the benefit of ex-combatants whom he promised to give lands to during his election campaign last year.

According to Headman Jalloh, as the gang was being mobilized, Ibrahim Foday warned some of them not to recognize the leadership of Wallace as he lost the election and the proposal that he should be deputy to the Headman has not yet been accepted by the Headman himself, adding that they should first and foremost go and consult the Headman as to whether they should undertake the brushing exercise. But Foday’s words of caution fell on deaf ears as on Saturday the 7th June Wallace inspired his gang loyal to him to go to the site by the Pen River to do the brushing.

When news of the brushing reached the Kossoh Town Headman Victor Haffner, he rang to the Grafton Headman for an explanation but the latter told him that he was not aware as nobody had confronted him on the issue. Headman Jalloh further stated that by coincidence they met at the Ministry of Works and he told him that it would be better if the authorities of both Grafton and Kossoh can sit down on a round-table to discuss the use of the land for development purposes with Grafton using the one facing them while Kossoh using the part of the land in the tributary facing them also for development purposes such as communal agriculture; as in geographic terms such a land can be considered a ‘No-Man’s land’ and he said OK!

The Grafton Headman said unfortunately he was surprised that when the Kossoh Town Headman received the news of people from Grafton brushing the disputed boundary area instead of contacting him (the elected Headman) he colluded with Wallace to proceed to the Hastings Police Station where a team of OSD ambushed and flogged some of the workers on that fateful Saturday, June 7th. He said the commotion and tension became the talk of the night as supporters of Wallace were muttering around that he has betrayed and deceived them as he cannot deliver on his election campaign promises and made matters worse by conniving with Headman Haffner to raid them with some OSD.

Eventually some of the frustrated Wallace supporters decided to regroup and enter into Kossoh Town to seek revenge. Again Ibrahim Foday who had contacted the Sabi-Yu-Rights, a local human rights organization with offices in Grafton, again repeated the warning that they should not take the law into their own hands as what they were about to do on Sunday was not to the knowledge of the democratically elected Headman.

On Sunday afternoon, he (Foday) decided to go to the scene along with one Sabi-Yu-Rights activist and a Special Branch Policeman to gather information and to see what was happening after the Hastings Police interventions and the threats of the disgruntled youths to regroup and attack the people of Kossoh when he was stabbed near the bridge linking Grafton and Kossoh from Jui and Hastings, Mr. Jalloh indicated.

He said there is a land between the tributary of the River that people from Grafton are illegally claiming, a land that can be regarded as a no-man’s land by geographical description apparently upon the orders of one Charles Emmanuel Wallace, his closest rival during the Headman election that he won with a slight margin. The piece of land around the Pen River which forms the boundary between Grafton and Kossoh Town near the bridge linking the two communities was the source of the conflict.

AllAfrica – All the Time