The 'boys' spreading terror in Sierra Leone

In this story: Changing allegiances Mythology of horror Ready to lay down their arms RELATED STORIES, SITES

By Paul Sussman, CNN.com Writer

The West Side Boys are a rag-tag militia in a country in which random lawlessness has become the norm.

The group, which is holding 11 British soldiers and their guide hostage in Sierra Leone, is made up primarily of renegade soldiers, criminals and kidnapped youths, some as young as 12.

They operate out of the densely-jungled Okra Hills 40 km (25 miles) to the east of the capital Freetown -- an area known to locals as the West Side, hence their title -- where they erect illegal roadblocks and rob, and sometimes kill, any motorists they happen to stop.

"They have caused a lot of problems," says Aiah Ngaujah, Permanent Secretary at the Sierra Leonean Ministry of Information. "They set up checkpoints along the road from Freetown to Masiaka, they steal people's property, beat people up, kill people. They are very bad."

Their activities are fuelled by drugs and "morale boosters" -- plastic sachets of cheap gin and whisky. Although their precise number is uncertain, most reports agree there are around 700-1000 men.

"What makes them so frightening is not how many of them there are, but their propensity to commit atrocities," says journalist Kingley Lington of Freetown's Concord Times, .

"They are very frightening, very unpredictable. They live on drugs, cocaine and heroin, and their disposition can change without notice. They kill without thinking about it."

It is something with which Lington has had direct experience. Two months ago he and a fellow journalist went to interview some members of the group, but the atmosphere suddenly turned violent and his colleague was shot dead. Lington only just escaped with his life.

"I was rescued by Nigerian peacekeepers after swimming across a lake," he recalled. "These people are very dangerous, very frightening. I fear for the lives of the British hostages."

The West Side Boys are both a product and a symbol of the anarchy into which Sierra Leone has descended over the last thee years.

They first came to prominence in May 1997 when, as members of the Sierra Leonean Army (SLA), they supported the coup by Major Johnny Paul Koroma which toppled the democratically-elected government of president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah.

Nigerian UN peacekeepers in Sierra Leone

Koroma's regime was itself toppled in 1998 by a Nigerian-led West African force and Kabbah was reinstalled as president.

The West Side Boys transferred their allegiances to the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), a rebel group which has been waging civil war in Sierrra Leone since the early 1990's, and which had supported the Koroma junta.

They were subsequently implicated in some of the most shocking RUF atrocities, including acts of rape, mutilation and murder. Following the UN-brokered July 1999 peace accord, however, they again switched sides, pledging loyalty to the government.

When the peace accord broke down earlier this year they fought alongside government troops defending Freetown against advancing RUF forces. Ironically, until a few months ago they were being hailed as heroes.

"Whenever they came into town people would cheer and clap," says Sheku, a student of the University of Sierra Leone who refused to give his surname for fear of reprisals. "People really admired them. We all looked on them as our protectors."

It was always an uneasy alliance, however. While ostensibly supporting the government, the group continued to engage in acts of random banditry and violence, refusing to hand over its weapons and participate in the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration Programme set up by the 1999 accord.

In June, they broke with President Kabbah's regime and retreated to their camps in the Okra Hills, from where they began terrorising motorists along the main road from Freetown to Masiaka 80 km (50 miles) to the east.

A mythology of horror has grown up around them, with their activities shocking even a country as inured to violence as Sierra Leone.

"There is a type of atrocity that only they commit," says Lington. "These are the sort of people who would slit open someone's chest and eat their heart. They are cannibals."

"I am terrified of them," says Abdul, another Freetown student who, like Sheku, is too frightened to give his surname. "They cut off people's hands, grab whatever they can. Wherever they go they kill. Even the military personnel are afraid of them."

United Nations peacekeepers launched Operation Thunderbolt in July to try and dispserse the group. At the same time their leader, 27-year-old Ali Mamy Beyoh Cisse -- known to his men as General Bomb-blast -- was arrested and is currently being held in Freetown's Pademba Road Prison.

But these punitive measures have apparently failed to curtail the group's activities. The illegal roadblocks reappeared within days of Operation Thunderbolt ending while, according to Lington, the arrest of General Bomb-blast would not have seriously affected their operational structure.

"They have no definable leadership culture," he said. "None of them really knows who their leader is. They are just a disorganised group of killers and criminals."

But there are signs the group could be ready to lay down its arms and many members have already surrendered, tired of the privations of life in the jungle.

The kidnapping of the 11 British soldiers is, suggests Lington, a sign of desperation rather than of strength. "It is a manifestation of the miserable lives they are leading. Their supply lines have been cut, they have no food or medicine. They need the soldiers as a bargaining counter."

Significantly Johnny Paul Koroma, to whom the West Side Boys have always professed loyalty, is now working alongside President Kabbah's government and has urged them to cease their violent behaviour.

The hope is that, having surrendered, the group can be reintegrated into the main body of Sierra Leone's army, but it remains to be seen whether this will be possible.

"We have extended an olive branch to everyone," said Ngaujah. "The government will welcome them all back, despite what they've done. I am not certain, however, that they will be able to cope with the standards of civilisation we have set."

Demands issued for abducted British troops in Sierra Leone
August 27, 2000

Government of Sierra Leone
Centre for Democracy and Human Rights in Sierra Leone

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.