January 31, 2018 By Regina Pratt
APC National Publicity Secretary, Cornelius Deveaux
National Publicity Secretary of the ruling All Peoples Congress (APC), who also doubles as Deputy Minister of Information and Communications, yesterday admitted that the party had an affiliation with the alleged mastermind of ‘Bloody Friday’, Alhaji S.I. Koroma aka Sheik, but not anymore as some question mark had been raised over his activities with opposition leaders.
Cornelius Deveaux made the admission on Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation’ ‘Morning Coffee’, adding that Sheik had distanced himself from the APC and stopped going to their party headquarters prior to their national convention in Makeni last year.
With regards the violence last Friday, Deveaux said: “I am not in a position to say how it all started as the police are doing their investigation. It is difficult as a party to identify the alleged perpetrators of the incident.”
He added that the APC would not condone any form of violence from any of its members and that the party would distance itself from anyone engaged in violent act.
He also revealed that T-shirts emblazoned with their party candidates and slogan were distributed to parliamentary and local council candidates – not to individuals – ahead of the party’s nomination last Friday.
The nomination of the APC Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates, Dr. Samura Kamara and Hon. Chernoh Marju Bah, as well as parliamentary candidates, was marred by violence, resulting to the death of a supporter and several others injured on Campbell Street.
The unfortunate incident drew criticism from certain sections of the public and some political parties, including the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) and National Grand Coalition (NGC), who called on the ruling party to take responsibility for the actions of their supporters.
The Sierra Leone Police has since arrested some fifty-six (56) suspects, including the alleged ring leader, Alhaji S.I. Koroma aka Sheik, to help them with their investigation.