Is ONS Really Hunting Jos? Agnes Bio, Alusine Kanneh Can Help
By Kandeh Sesay
Questions are mounting over the Office of National Security’s (ONS) reported efforts to locate Dutch fugitive Joseph “Jos” Leijdekkers, also known as Umar Sheriff, amid claims and images allegedly linking him to prominent individuals in Sierra Leone.
The controversy follows recent comments by the ONS Director of Communications indicating that the security agency is searching for the Europe-based suspected drug trafficker, who is wanted by Dutch authorities.
Some Sierra Leoneans, however, have questioned the effectiveness of the search, pointing to photographs and videos circulating on social media that allegedly show Leijdekkers in the company of people with links to influential circles in the country.
Among the images reportedly circulating are photographs purportedly showing Agnes Bio, daughter of President Julius Maada Bio, alongside a man alleged to be Leijdekkers during a church service and rice harvesting activities.
The authenticity, date and circumstances surrounding the photographs have not been independently established by The Watch Newspaper.
A separate video has also surfaced allegedly showing former Immigration Department boss Alusine Kanneh and former Director of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Andrew Yaiya Kaikai, at the prestigious Lor Restaurant, where Kanneh was reportedly being celebrated and presented with gifts.
There is currently no evidence from the material cited that either Kanneh or Kaikai was involved in any criminal activity or had knowledge of Leijdekkers’ alleged activities.
Leijdekkers, a Dutch national, has been described by authorities as a major international drug trafficking suspect. Dutch authorities reportedly sentenced him in absentia in June to 24 years in prison for offences including cocaine trafficking, robbery and ordering a killing.
Spanish authorities have also linked him to a major cocaine shipment seized at sea.
The case has attracted renewed attention in Sierra Leone following reports that Leijdekkers may have been operating or spending time in the country under the name Umar Sheriff.
Sierra Leone’s Inspector General of Police, William Fayia Sellu, previously stated at a press conference that open-source investigations had identified the individual in question as Umar Sheriff.
The latest developments have prompted some members of the public to question how a wanted international fugitive could allegedly appear in photographs and videos in Sierra Leone without being detected by the country’s security agencies.
The central question now being raised is whether the ONS is genuinely searching for Jos Leijdekkers, or whether security agencies failed to act on information or sightings that may have been available to them.
The questions have become more pressing following reports that the Dutch government has submitted extradition documents to Sierra Leone.
However, allegations that the Sierra Leone Government has deliberately ignored or refused to act on the extradition request remain unsubstantiated. The government has not, to the best of the information presented, publicly confirmed that it has rejected or ignored any formal extradition request.
The ONS and other relevant authorities are expected to clarify the circumstances surrounding Leijdekkers’ alleged presence in Sierra Leone, the identity of Umar Sheriff.
Until such clarification is provided, questions surrounding the fugitive’s alleged connections in Sierra Leone are likely to continue to generate public concern.
