By Sulaiman Jalloh

Detective Assistant Commissioner of Police Allieu Jalloh, head of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Sierra Leone Police, has said that in connection to the killing of Journalist Samuel Brima Mattia, former employee of the VOPAD Radio located at the east end of Freetown, nine people have been arrested, including the station manager.

Speaking during a police press conference on Thursday, January 23, 2025, the CID boss said the corpse of the late Mattia was found close to the prison facility in Waterloo, noting the board chairman of the radio station arrested almost all of the staff and handed them over to the police, adding “during the course of the investigation another names come up as possible suspects, we waste no time we went there again, we get another four people totalling to nine and they are now helping police with the investigation”.

Jalloh stressed the nine suspects have been questioned. He talked about the importance of community policing while thanking community members who assisted the police during the course of the arrest of the four persons.

35-year-old Journalist Mattia was found dead after he was reported missing. According to the police report, the station manager of VOPAD radio has admitted to having orchestrated the killing of his colleague journalist.

The head of the CID promised that justice would be served and anyone found wanting would face the law.

In another development, Allieu Jalloh informed journalists that one Police Constable 17235, Amara, who was alleged to have shot and killed his brother in Waterloo, had been arrested.

According to him, after Amara was alleged to have discharged the firearm, he dropped it and ran away but said he is currently under police custody helping with the investigation.

He added that the apprehended allegedly fake police officer was formally attached at the Lungi International Airport.