A Sierra Leonean national currently in U.S. immigration custody on rape charges has been identified by opposition figures as a former close protection bodyguard to First Lady Fatima Bio and President Julius Maada Bio, sparking fresh debate about the circumstances surrounding recent U.S. travel restrictions on Sierra Leone.

Ibrahim George Kallon was taken into custody by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Philadelphia on February 11 and remains detained, according to a statement released by the agency on February 23.

Kallon had been in correctional officer training at the Delaware County prison in Pennsylvania when he was charged in 2025 with rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, and false imprisonment, ICE reported.

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Opposition politician Mohamed Kamarainba Mansaray has publicly alleged that Kallon served as a close protection officer to the First Family. In social media posts, Mansaray claimed: “Una see Ibrahim Kallon with di first family. He was a close protection bodyguard to Maada Bio and Fatima. He was also very close to Fatima’s son, Mohamed.”

According to Mansaray, Kallon accompanied the presidential delegation during a UN summit in the United States and subsequently refused to return to Sierra Leone. “Dis nar Fatima Bio and Maada’s Close Protection Bodyguard. Ibrahim Kallon came with Maada and Fatima Bio during di UN summit and refused to go back to SaLone. E cam commit serious crimes nar America and is currently in ICE detention to be deported,” Mansaray wrote .

The opposition figure further linked Kallon’s case to the recent U.S. travel ban on Sierra Leone, stating: “Nar one of den people yaa, bin make president Donald J. Trump banned Sierra Leone.”

The charges against Kallon remain allegations unless and until proven in court. Neither the Government of Sierra Leone nor the First Lady’s office has issued an official response to the claims regarding Kallon’s employment history.

The allegations come months after First Lady Fatima Bio was involved in a separate public dispute involving security personnel. In June 2025, Fatima Bio accused Engineer Francis Alpha Kallon and his team of bringing soldiers into Bo during SLPP National Young Generation Council elections, creating what she described as a tense environment.

In a widely shared video, the First Lady claimed that one of Francis Alpha Kallon’s men, dressed in a security uniform, fired a shot inside the election hall. She stated the individual was not a genuine police officer or soldier but was impersonating security personnel, and was carrying a firearm with live ammunition. The individual was reportedly taken into custody at the time .

Kallon’s arrest coincides with significant new travel restrictions imposed on Sierra Leonean nationals. Effective January 1, 2026, the U.S. government implemented a full suspension of entry for Sierra Leonean nationals under Presidential Proclamation 10998, citing “persistent and severe deficiencies” in Sierra Leone’s identity-management protocols and a lack of cooperation on deportations.

The suspension applies to both immigrant and nonimmigrant visas, effectively barring most Sierra Leonean citizens from obtaining new visas to travel to the United States. The U.S. Embassy in Freetown has clarified that visas issued before January 1, 2026 remain valid, though final entry decisions rest with U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Additionally, effective January 21, 2026, the U.S. Department of State paused all immigrant visa issuances to nationals of Sierra Leone and dozens of other countries deemed at “high risk of public benefits usage.” President Donald Trump has highlighted data showing that 43.6% of Sierra Leonean immigrant households in the United States depend on public benefits, a statistic used to justify the administration’s immigration framework.

Kallon’s arrest is part of a broader pattern of U.S. enforcement actions against Sierra Leonean nationals with criminal histories. In January 2026, Mariama Sia Kanu, a Sierra Leonean woman convicted of two counts of homicide, was taken into custody by ICE agents in Minnesota as part of an operation targeting noncitizens with serious criminal convictions. Kanu had been under a final deportation order since July 2022.

Earlier in 2025, Abdul Dukuray was removed from the United States after convictions for murder and weapons possession. Prince Solomon Knox, 62, was also deported following convictions for visa fraud and domestic assault; U.S. authorities stated Knox had falsely denied past affiliations with the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) on his visa application.

In September 2025, ICE removed Charles Emile Mbayo, a suspected war criminal and former high-ranking member of Sierra Leone’s National Provisioning Ruling Council military junta, to Sierra Leone. Mbayo had entered the United States in 1998 on a student visa .