By Sallieu S. Kanu
Hassan Dumbuya, aka Evangelist Samson, died from gunshot injury, according to an autopsy conducted on Monday.
Lawyer Lansana Dunbuya said in his twitter handle that “the autopsy of the late Evangelist Samson was done today in the presence of L. Dumbuya & Associate and the family. According to the pathologist, he was shot on the leg from the back while running. This shot scattered his leg which resulted in severe bleeding leading to his death.”
Evangelist Samson was shot dead by security forces on August 11, 2022, in the northern city of Makeni.
Evangelist Samson was an ardent critic of the Bio Administration. His video and audio recordings are popular among supporters and sympathizers of the main opposition All Peoples Congress (APC) party.
The incident was said to have occurred in front of a merchandise shop on Station Road in Makeni.
Eyewitness account stated that the security forces took the victim from his pool of blood and went away.
“I am instructed also that on that faithful day, the deceased was sitting with some of his friends in a private bar in Makeni when the Police arrived and shot only the deceased amongst his friends, although the deceased and his friends were unarmed, he never resisted an arrest by the said Police: was not in a riot insurrection or mutiny; was not violent to the Police; was not committing a criminal offence; and there was at that time no war in the country nor was the deceased killed consequent upon a Court order. Such act by the Sierra Leone Police contravenes section 16 (1) of the 1991 Constitution,” Lawyer Dumbuya said earlier.
The Sierra Leone Police said in a statement that Evangelist Samson was killed during a crossfire while security forces were pursuing ex-combatants who had assembled to organize attacks.