The Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Lahai Lawrence Leema, has addressed allegations regarding his involvement in extra-judicial killings of citizens during the curfew hours of August 10th protests.

The Special Committee set up by President Julius Maada Bio to investigate the matter reported that the minister did not attend despite several invitations.

However, in response to the allegations, the minister claimed that he was not informed that he should have been on the committee.

According to him, he received an abrupt call from Rtd. Colonel Njoto on the day of the committee meeting, informing him of his presence on the committee.

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He explained that he informed the caller that he was not notified of his presence on the committee and that he was busy at the time. He promised to be available at any time should the meeting with the committee be rescheduled.

The minister asserted that he never received any call from the committee again until he was contacted by the ONS Coordinator, who accused him of refusing to show up for the committee.

Leema claimed that no one from the committee has ever approached him to get his side of what transpired on August 10th.

He described the situation as unfortunate and claimed that it was an attempt to tarnish his reputation in the eyes of Sierra Leoneans and the President.

The minister also recounted the personal attack he faced on August 10th, including roadblocks and an attack on his vehicle resulting in the death of one of his security personnel.

“I came under personal attack on August 10, my vehicle was attacked, there were roadblocks before me spanning from Willington to up gun, I came under tremendous road attacks with stones pelted at my vehicle, the windscreen of my vehicle was badly damaged, my security died in the process,” he stated.