By Sallieu Kanu
Personnel at the Criminal Investigation Department of Sierra Leone Police on Tuesday, May 5, 2022 searched the home and office of the of Leader of the Unity Party, Femi Claudius-Cole who is being held in custody since Sunday.
A stunt human rights advocate, Lawyer Basita Michael said that on July 4, 2022 they visited Dr. Femi Claudius-Cole and Dr. Dennis Bright at the criminal Investigation department (CID).
She said that during they meeting, they were informed that a warrant had been issued to search the premises of the Unity Party on allegations that there were arms and ammunition in the said office.
Together with the Mayor of Freetown, lawyer Wara Serry-Kamal, lawyer Alpha Amadu Bah (MP) and lawyer Hassan Kamara, they accompanied Dr. Claudius-Cole and the police team comprising over a dozen police officers to the Unity Party office.
“We waited there until the search was conducted in the presence of lawyers. The Mayor and I stayed downstairs. The search took over an hour. At the end of the search, we were informed that no arms or ammunition were found on the premises,” she said in a post on Monday.
From the search at the party office, Dr. Claudius-Cole was taken to the CID. “We were then told that there was another search warrant for her house at Syke Street. Lawyers and the Mayor accompanied the police to her residence. On our arrival, we met over a dozen armed Police Officers outside her house, including OSDs [Operational Support Personnel]. They searched the house, garage, store, etc and found nothing,” she said.
“Dr. Claudius-Cole was taken back to the CID and is still in custody. Our pleas for her and Dr. Dennis Bright to be granted bail fell on deaf ears. Dr. Bright has still not been informed of the reasons for his detention.”