Coup in Sierra Leone? Wetin dey happun as goment declare curfew

Goment don declare nationwide curfew for Sierra Leone afta armed men try to gain access to di armoury of one military barrack of di capital Freetown.

Di president release statement from im house wia e claim say di situation dey under control but eyewitnesses say di katakata still dey go on.

Residents of Freetown report say dem hear heavy gunshots from di Wilberforce military barracks, wey dey near di presidential lodge, early mor-mor on Sunday.

Di Ministry of Information statement put immediate curfew and recommend make pipo stay inside house.

President Julius Maada Bio tok say dem don restore calm and dem don launch manhunt to find di rest of di perpetrators.

But one BBC reporter for Freetown say di situation neva still dey clear.

Im drive past soldiers wey carry heavy weapons and see odas dey chant say dem plan to “clean Sierra Leone”.

In June dem re-elect president Julius Maada Bio afta im narrowly miss a run-off.

In August, some pipo including some high ranking sojas bin chop arrest and accuse of plotting a coup against di president.

Over di past three years a number of kontris for West and central Africa don stage coups, including neighbouring Guinea wey dey currently under military rule.

Profile of Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone, na country for West Africa, wey get special significance for di history of transatlantic slave trade and na di departure point for thousands of west African captives.

Dem create di capital, Freetown, as home for repatriated former slaves in 1787.

But di modern history of di country dey overshadowed by one brutal civil war wey end in 2002 wit di help of Britain, di former colonial power, and a large United Nations peacekeeping mission.

Sierra Leone bin experience substantial economic growth in recent years, even though dem still dey feel di effects of wetin spoil for di civil war.

Di country also dey rich in diamonds and oda minerals. Di way dem dey sell illicit gems, wey pipo sabi as "blood diamonds" for dia role in funding conflicts, na wetin cause di civil war. Di goment dey try find way to spoil di illegal business.

Some ogbonge dates for Sierra Leone history

Make we chook eye for some important dates for Sierra Leone history.

500BC onwards - One successive group of pipo enta Sierra Leone to settle dia, even though e get dense tropical rainforest wey partially separte di region from oda West African cultures.

1462 - Portuguese explorer Pedro de Sintra map di hills around wetin pipo sabi now as Freetown, e name dem "Serra da Leoa" or "Serra Leoa" - Lioness Mountains.

1495 - Portuguese traders build one fortified trading post for di coast. Od nationals like di Dutch, English and French follow dem establish trading stations wey start to primarily deal in slaves sharp sharp.

1787 - Sake of di British defeat for di American Revolutionary War, thousands of Black Loyalists run go settle for Canada, di West Indies or come to London.

British philanthropists establish one settlement for Sierra Leone wit di aim to remove dem from poverty.

British goment officials hand dey inside too, even though dia interest na to resettle a large group of poor citizens elsewhere away from London.

Locals fight against dis first settlement and struggles.

1792 - Dem settle Black Loyalists for Nova Scotia, Canada, afta di American Revolution but face harsh northern winters and racial discrimination.

Philanthropists, help nearly 1,200 wey decide to move to Sierra Leone and build di settlement of Freetown.

1808 - Freetown settlement become di crown colony. Wit abolition of slavery, di Royal Navy begin to return thousands of former African slaves to Freetown, afta dem set dem free from illegal slave ships.

1896 - Britain sets up a protectorate over Freetown hinterland.

1961 - Sierra Leone get independence.

1967 - Military coup remove Premier Siaka Stevens' goment, but im return to power di following year and becomes president in 1971, afta Sierra Leone become a republic.

1991 - Civil war start. Former army corporal Foday Sankoh and im Revolutionary United Front (RUF) begin campaign against President Joseph Saidu Momoh, dem capture towns wey dey for border wit Liberia.

1992 - Dem remove President Joseph Momoh thru military coup wey Captain Valentine Strasser lead. Under international pressure, Strasser announce plans for di first multi-party elections since 1967.

In quick succession, however, di country pass through many presidents afta plenti series of coups.

2000 - UN forces - for di country help end di war - come under attack for di east.

Dem kidnap hundreds of UN troops. Rebels try to takeover Freetown. Dem send British paratroopers to Freetown to evacuate British citizens and to help secure di airport for UN peacekeepers, dem capture rebel leader Foday Sankoh.

2002 - Civil war ends. UN mission say disarmament of 45,000 fighters don complete. Goment, UN agree to set up war crimes court.

British troops leave Sierra Leone afta two-year mission to help end di fighting.

2003 - Rebel leader Foday Sankoh die of natural causes wen im dey on awaiting trial for war crimes.

2004 - First local elections in more dan three decades; war crimes trials begin look into atrocities wey both sides commit during di fighting.

2014-2016 - Sierra Leone declare a state of emergency to tackle di deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa wey persists into 2016, e kill more dan 11,000 pipo for di region.