The government of Sierra Leone has today, Wednesday 10 August 2022 announced a nationwide curfew, starting at 3:00 PM until further notice in order to curb the rising protest in the country.

The curfew announcement was made by the Vice President of Sierra Leone, Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh on state broadcaster, SLBC, after internet in the country was shut down for over two hours.

According to Vice President Jalloh, the curfew was announced to maintain law and order and protect the lives and property of citizens.

“The security sector has been authorised to fully enforced this detectives,” he noted.

There have been reports of protests in the east end of Freetown and in several towns across the north of Sierra Leone with police and protesters in running battles.

“Unconfirmed reports say there have been deaths. It’s not clear how many. The head of the police in the north, Gabriel Tommy says they’ve imposed an indefinite curfew in Makeni and Magburaka with the possibility of extending it to Kamakwei. Situation being monitored,” BBC’s Umaru Fofana reported.