Various Sierra Leone groups have jointly hosted on August 28, 2023, a historic vigil commemorating the deaths of numerous compatriots since April 4, 2018, when the murderous SLPP regime of President Julius Maada Bio took power from the APC government of President Ernest Bai Koroma. Monday’s vigil marked the third anniversary of the Black in the Park memorial service which started at the height of the COVID-19 virus. The patriots who gathered included Concerned Sierra Leoneans UK; Like Minds from Makeni, UK; Black in the Park UK; Sierra Gem Media, and other Sierra Leone organisations and patriotic citizens.

The rampant human rights violations and state-sponsored killings of innocent citizens since April 4, 2018, by the bio-violent regime have brought together peaceful Sierra Leoneans to remember the dead. In 2020 alone, armed police and soldiers shot to death youths in Makeni for simply protesting against the removal of their standby generators. At the Pademba Road Prison in Freetown, dozens of prisoners and a prison officer were killed by presidential guards. Not to mention the Lunsar Killings, the Mile 91 Killings, the Tombo killings, the Thonko Limba killings, and so on. All these murders were committed in the backyard of the opposition APC party.

Historic pictures highlighting the Black in the Park memorial service in London on Monday, August 28 speak volumes. Renowned attendees included Lawyer Dr Venod Fullah of the ICC invitation letter fame. Others who attended included the APC party heavyweight Dr Richard Konteh who also addressed the mourners. Other prominent Sierra Leoneans who graced the occasion include the social media activists Imran T, Mr Gbanabome, Lebanese Adebayor, Mr Adnan, Mama Salone, Organiser Mr Momodu Stevens, and Madam Salamatu Kamara among others. So many patriots made speeches condemning the atrocities committed by Maada Bio’s bandits. The Black in the Park vigil was crowned by many black balloons left flying in the air as a mark of respect for all the innocent people who lost their precious lives under Bio.

The remembrance vigil and prayers in London for the dead is a stark reminder of the heinous crimes currently being committed by the Bio killers. Sierra Leoneans are therefore calling on international partners to pay keen attention to the barbarism and bloody violence meted out on innocent Sierra Leoneans by Maada Bio’s thugs. It was consoling to see the black balloons flying away with birds in the London sky commemorating the innocent lives unjustly killed by former President Bio. “Black in the Park 28th August 2023. RIP. Justice will be served on your behalf someday soon,” mourners have reiterated.