By Sorie Sudan Sesay in Freetown and Gibril Koroma in Vancouver,Canada.
Former NPRC Secretary of State Tom Nyuma has been arrested following an alleged attempt on the life of APC leader Ernest Koroma(photo).
Nyuma is alleged to have tried to sneak into the hotel room(Room number 4) of the APC presidential candidate between 3.30 and 4.00 this morning in an apparent attempt to cause harm, according to APC public relations officer William Smith who spoke to the Vanguard today. Koroma had just returned from a campaign trip to Mattru Jong and was resting when the incident happened.
"Nyuma is being brought to Freetown as I speak and the Inspector General of Police has been duly informed," Smith said, adding that Nyuma and some of his colleagues were apprehended by vigilant APC security personnel at the Countryside Hotel on the Bo-Kenema highway.
The former NPRC strong man was allegedly severely beaten by Ernest Koroma’s bodyguards who later took him to the Bo police station at Dambala Road from where he was rushed to Dr. Yillah’s hospital for medical treatment.
Ernest Koroma himself is continuing his campaign tour of the south and east of the country, according to Smith.
Attempts to talk to Victor Reider, the SLPP spokesman have so far failed. His phone was turned off.The SLPP office in Bo is said to be very busy today as party stalwarts hang heads on what to do or say about the the Nyuma incident.Nyuma himself has denied the allegation saying he was "provoked" by Ernest Koroma’s bodyguards.
Almost immediately after his recent deportation to Sierra Leone by the US government, Nyuma, a flamboyant ex-military officer, has been constantly in the news, making appearances at a recent SLPP rally at the national stadium in Freetown and accompanying the Vice President on his campaign tours in the provinces.
He was one of the soldiers that toppled the APC government of Joseph Momoh on April 29 1992 and set up the military junta(NPRC) that ruled Sierra Leone from 1992 to 1996.
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