The youth league of All People’s Congress said recently that they were surprised and frustrated, when police stopped them from holding an intended three-day retreat at their northwest regional head offices in Port Loko town.

APC is Sierra Leone’s main opposition political party – and the Youth League Retreat was slated for Oct. 15 through 17.

But Nat Kanu, the party’s secretary general in Port Loko district, told TV-News24 that they were in the process of starting the Youth League Retreat when he got a message from the Assistant Inspector General of police – ordering them to call off the event.

“They said it’s a court action that’s why it didn’t take place. … They said the matter is in court, and the court didn’t give an order,” Kanu said, relaying the message he says Northwest Region Police head, AIG Mustapha Kamara, told him in a telephone call.

According to TV-News24, the secretary general said police told him organizers should’ve gotten clarification from the court, outlining to them how to go about the event, before embarking on organizing it.

“But since they didn’t do so, that’s why they canceled it,” Kanu said.

Kamara echoed Kanu’s remarks, and said police only stopped the program due to the court injunction.

The high ranking police officer said they’ve already received support from Sierra Leone Police officers from other parts of the country, to assist in policing the event – before the court directed them to stop it.

Both Kanu and Kamara spoke with TV-News24 over the telephone, on Saturday, Oct.16.

“When I received the call from headquarters, I called on the current APC Youth League President Bai Mahmoud, Minkailu Mansaray, and other stakeholders of the party; and explained to them the reason why the conference must not hold,” Kamara said.

Sylvester Massaquoi, APC Youth League Leader for Pujehun district, who traveled about 290 kilometers (180 miles) to attend the conference in Port Loko, said he was disappointed.

“My brother, we are from Pujehun district. This court injunction has made us lose huge sums of money as we pay all the way from there, and also rented places for our lodging,” Massaquoi said.

The Judiciary of Sierra Leone, on the other hand, said there was – and still is – an active court injunction on such party functions, that APC members knew about.

Therefore, Elkass Sannoh, the judiciary’s head of communications, said in a phone interview last Monday, that with the court injunction, APC party members must first consult, and seek the High Court’s permission should they intend holding such activity.

Sannoh said it was an APC member who’d sought court redress among others, for the removal of the current party executive – arguing that their tenure in office had expired.

And as such, he said, the petitioner argued that the said executive members must cease to administer party activities.

And it was on that basis, Sannoh said, “the High Court passed an injunction on the listed executive members,” until the matter is resolved.