Sierra Leone’s government enforced a three-day lockdown which commenced on 3 May. In Freetown, the capital, streets that were congested with hundreds of people less than 12 hours earlier, suddenly became become a “ghost town” as shown in this short video shot by my cousin.
The London lockdown has gone on for a lot longer; but in Freetown it was far more strict. The government issued instructions that nobody could leave their home for any reason whatsoever. Forget fines and a few words from bobbies on the beat, in Sierra Leone soldiers were ordered to teach rule-breakers a painful lesson – as shown in this violent video.
Although there have only been 307 confirmed cases and 18 deaths – far lower than the UK death toll, president Julius Maada Bio doesn’t want to take any chances as the nation is still recovering from the Ebola crisis in 2014, which killed 11,000 people.
As deaths continue to increase in Britain, it makes me wonder whether we here would have benefited from strong arm tactics.
Freetown might not have been free, but it is still alive!
A 12 month state of emergency has been declared in Sierra Leone and further lockdowns may be applied with next to no warning.