Ishmael Fornah on the Run After Being Linked to November Coup

By: Sulaiman Turay_

Ishmael Fornah, a Sierra Leonean from Warima, Koya Chiefdom, Port Loko District, in the Northwestern Region of Sierra Leone, is currently on the run for allegedly participating in the November 26, 2023 coup attempt. Ishmael, who was employed at the country’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, has been identified as one of the alleged masterminds behind the failed coup.

Following the incident, police launched a nationwide search, including a raid on his house and office in the provinces, but Ishmeal was nowhere to be found. Reports suggest that his alleged involvement in the coup may be politically motivated, as he hails from the northwest region, a known stronghold of the opposition All People’s Congress (APC) party.

Since the issuance of a search warrant, Fornah has been conspicuously absent from his residence, and his whereabouts remain unknown.

So far, the failed coup of November 2023 has seen the Former Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma, who himself is from the north of the country, been charged with treason and other offences in connection with the coup.

This followed after gunmen broke into a military armoury and several prisons in Freetown, freeing almost 2,000 inmates.

The attack led to the killing of about 20 people. That has led to series of arrests of military, police and civilians who are said to be connected to the horrendous attacks. Ishmael is one of them. However, he is still on the run and nowhere to be seen.