Journalist Stabbed to Death...SLAJ Alarmed

The Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) has vehemently condemned the killing of journalist Ibrahim Foday formerly of Exclusive Newspaper.  

Ibrahim was stabbed on Sunday June 12, 2011, during a land dispute between the Grafton and Kossoh Town communities in the outskirts of Freetown.

“The exact motive of his killing is yet unclear but it came as he had published stories on the land dispute which apparently did not go down well with especially the Kossoh Town community,” a SLAJ press release disclosed.

SLAJ President, Umaru Fofana, has held a series of meetings with the Kossoh Town headman Victor Haffner and some member of the Grafton community and pleaded with them to help bring the killer(s) to book.

He has also held meetings with the Assistant Inspector General of Police for Freetown East, Mohamed Kamara, the police Local Unit Commander Amos Kargbo and the Government Chief pathologist Dr Owis Koroma.

SLAJ has also been in contact with other senior police officers on the matter and has provided the name of someone suspected to be behind the slaying of the journalist.

“We urge the police to speed up investigations and bring to justice those behind this cowardly and reprehensible killing of the journalist”, says the SLAJ president.

“The fact that people can take the law into their own hands and kill someone else, no matter who the victim is or what could be their motive, is worrisome for our society,” Fofanah said.

An autopsy will be carried out tomorrow at the Connaught Hospital at 12:00 noon and journalists are encouraged to be there, the SLAJ release urged.

“This is the first fatal attack on a journalist in the country since 2005 when Harry Yansanneh was beaten to death. The then Editor of For Di People newspaper died after being beaten by family members of a sitting parliamentarian of the then ruling SLPP party Dr Fatmata Hassan who never faced justice. Following her party’s loss of power in 2007, she switched her allegiance to the present ruling APC party who unconscionably allowed her into their fold. SLAJ also calls on that case to be reopened even if the family of the late Harry no longer seem interested in it. This was a crime against the state and must be pursued by any government that is serious in the fight against impunity”.