She made the confirmation at the police headquarters whilst updating the public about a number of issues across the country.
She recalled that on Saturday 29 September 2018, there was a bye-election in Ward 196 in Tonko Limba chiefdom, Kambia District, which was policed by the Local Unit Commander (LUC) of the Kambia Division, Chief Superintendent Alimamy Bangura.
She said that at some point during the election, the security situation deteriorated to a level that the LUC requested for military support which was granted.
AIG Turay disclosed that during and after the election, they contacted AIG Amos Kargbo as the Regional Commander to give an update about the situation, but he was unreachable.
“We contacted him on many occasions and we did not get him, and we were expecting him to call and update us, but fail to do so. After the election, we were still expecting his calls, but he never did and only the LUC was making effort to update us even though the area has poor communication network,” she stated.
The Director of Operations averred that according to the chain of command in the Sierra Leone police, LUC Alimamy Bangura should have reported the incident to AIG Amos Kargbo who has the responsibility to update police headquarters. But she said this did not happen.
In another development, Assistant Inspector General (AIG) Elizabeth Augusta Turay reported that, in an effort to strengthen security at the Lungi International Airport, the Police is going to increase police presence across the entire airport.
She said that 20 OSD officers, 20 RSLAF officers and 6 fire force officers will be added to the security personnel, alongside other security personnel that are already based at the airport to address the security issue at the airport.
She assured that, “the Sierra Leone police in collaboration of other security agencies will continue to undertake robust nationwide security operations, aimed at preserving the safety and security of the state.”
AIG Turay added that the public will see heightened police presence on the Streets, along with police vehicular checkpoints at strategic locations, targeted raids, and stop and search.
The police will also be carrying out effective community engagements and joint police and military deployment at Lungi airport in order to improve public safety and security.
