Local media in Sierra Leone reported that the West African nation had been planning to move the plant to the country’s international airport near the capital, Freetown.
Protesters attacked the offices of President Julius Maada Bio’s political party in Makeni, witnesses said, while police fired live rounds and tear gas, leaving at least five people dead and several injured in the wake of the attack.
In his Sunday, July 26 statement, Bishop Paganelli expresses sympathy with people who lost their loved ones in the attack and calls for “immediate, independent and transparent investigation to address the cause of the violence.”
“As a Diocese, we register our deepest and heartfelt sympathy and condolences to their grieving parents, family members and friends. May Almighty God grant them the comfort and consolation they desperately need at this troubling time,” the 63-year-old Bishop who has been at the helm of the Diocese since April 2012 says.
He further calls for the release of those who had been nabbed in connection with the attack to reduce tension and ease the bitterness and anger among the people who were already feeling aggrieved.
The Italian-born Prelate calls on everyone to preserve the peace, stability and cohesion of the country and to avoid divisive politics.
He reiterates Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s words in the second African synod document, Africae Munus, that, “reconciliation overcomes crisis, restores the dignity of individuals and opens up the path to development and lasting peace between peoples at every level.”
The mid-July incident is the latest COVID-19 related act of violence in the West African country after a reported prison attack that left several people dead and an attack on a police station by fishermen following contested restrictions to contain the spread of the virus.
After a case of COVID-19 was confirmed in a Prison located in Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, riots broke out at the correctional facility resulting in the death of seven people.
In the western area of the country, fishermen attacked a police station and a health clinic after the number of boats allowed to go to the sea were reduced as part of the measures to curb the spread of COVID-19.
