Dauda Yillah: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 03 November 2025:
One must ask: is the notorious Dutch narcotics kingpin still in our country?
If so, does the current administration really mean to extradite him to face justice in his homeland? Only time will tell.
My scepticism stems from our government’s continuing dodgy handling of the issue since it all started many months ago.
First, there has been this endless bickering about the identity of the culprit: Is he Dutch or Sierra Leonean? Jos Leijdekkers or Oumar Sheriff?
Even more dodgy and evasive have been our Foreign. Information and Justice Ministries’ various pronouncements on the issue, never really providing any clarity about the government’s position.
Perhaps more tellingly, the police have simply been noticeably quiet about their investigations, unashamedly reneging on the promise the Inspector General of Police made earlier to provide the public with detailed weekly updates on their actions and findings.
Now, for the Information Minister to suddenly come out and say that steps are now being taken to speed up the extradition process leaves me justifiably wondering just what is really at play here.
Have the drug kingpin’s rumoured amorous and indeed matrimonial ties with the president’s daughter run their course, or are they simply unfounded – a mere claim based on hearsay?
In either case, has the president finally realised he must act in the interest of himself, his family and the country?
Or is the Information Minister’s intervention the prelude to a fishy conclusion to the untenable episode besmirching our country’s image?
In other words, are we soon to be informed officially that the drug kingpin is no longer within our borders, making null and void any decision to have him eventually extradited?
If so, is a haven being secretly arranged for him?
In that case, a breakup of his alleged ties with the president’s daughter may not after all be necessary.
Maybe the only thing getting extradited here is the truth.
