|
State House
Freetown, Republic of Sierra Leone
The ECOWAS Presidential
Committee of Five on Sierra Leone
Cote d'Ivoire
Ghana
Guinea
Liberia
Nigeria
5th September 1997
Your Excellencies,
I regret to report that
consequent to my letter of 3rd September, 1997 addressed to the
Chairman of ECOWAS General Sani Abacha and copied to all Heads of
State of ECOWAS, events in my country have taken an ugly turn, which
up to this moment as I write still baffles the entire population of
Sierra Leone and should come as a shock to all moral and
peace-loving humanity.
On the night of Wednesday 3rd
and the early hours of Thursday 4th September, 1997, the Nigerian
component of ECOMOG forces occupying the Sierra Leone International
Airport at Lungi, undertook intensive and incessant bombardment of
our capital city of Freetown, killing in the process over fifty
innocent and peaceful Sierra Leoneans and wounding and maiming
scores of others with thirty-seven (37) persons still under
intensive care. Your Excellencies, the people of Sierra Leone are
finding it impossible to understand this unprovoked, dastardly and
cruel act of what seems like cold-blooded murder of dear relatives,
friends, compatriots and associates. Whilst the corpses of the
victims were still awaiting burial, these same Nigerian troops
demonstrated their callousness, by launching more missiles at the
city seriously damaging the nation's only flour mill. The bombings
continue.
Among the dead were pregnant
women, suckling mothers and their babies, old men and women, and
school children all residents of some of the poorest districts of
Freetown. Not a single soldier was killed or wounded in this tragedy
of callous and reckless misuse of military force.
The Head of ECOMOG contingent
has made a broadcast announcement that their bombardment was in
response to an attack launched by the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed
Forces against their positions. Forgive me to state that this
announcement can only be described as a most dishonourable, blatant
and outrageous lie. I assure you in the name of God that no
offensive was launched on Nigerian ECOMOG troops on and after the
dates in question. The blood of my people has been shed by
trigger-happy men for no justifiable reason at all, and the people
of my land mourn the death of these hapless victims in sorrow and
anger.
In the name of the united and
one nation of Sierra Leone, I here protest to you and the rest of
the international community these brutal and barbaric killings that
have been senselessly perpetrated on my innocent countrymen. This
appears to be a continuation of previous equally gruesome acts of
military vandalism beginning from 2 June this year. The number of
our innocent civilians dead has now well exceeded five hundred
(500). These acts of brutality can no longer be described as just
mere provocation, or can no longer be hidden under the guise of the
restoration of constitutional order.
I call on Your Excellencies and
the rest of the international world and worthy men of conscience to
come to the rescue of the poor and beleaguered people of Sierra
Leone and stop this Nigerian carnival of death and destruction.
Your Excellencies, in spite of
whatever position you hold on this issue, I believe that it is but
right and just that an independent team of investigators be sent to
assess this new dimension the Nigerian presence has assumed. While
killing and maiming our citizenry in Freetown, the Nigerians are
actively and deliberately encouraging and orchestrating a genocidal
civil war which doubtless is going to introduce the additional
horror of ethnic cleansing which will probably belie anything our
sub-region has seen before with its consequent overspills into
neighbouring countries.
The people of Sierra Leone
request the protection of the rest of the world. The people of
Sierra Leone are entitled to the protection of the rest of the
world.
Please accept, Your
Excellencies, the assurances of my esteem.
JOHNNY PAUL KOROMA
Major
Chairman - Armed Forces Revolutionary Council
and Head of State, Republic of Sierra Leone
cc:
All ECOWAS Heads of State
The Secretary-General, ECOWAS
Heads of State of African Commonwealth Countries
The Secretary-General, OAU
The Secretary-General of the Commonwealth
The Secretary-General of the United Nations
The President of the United Nations Security Council
His Holiness Pope John Paul II
The Archbishop of Canterbury
Amnesty International
The Carter Foundation
European Union
Council of Europe
International Committee of the Red Cross
Organisation of American States
Organisation of Islamic Conference
The Arab League |
