12th  May 2000

Dear Joseph

Warm greetings to you from Wesley House right in the heart of Freetown.  It is a long time now since our departure from Wurpertal.  I hope that you have already received our agreement and the proposal on relief.

The situation in the country has suddenly changed with the recent events by the RUF.  There has always be signs that  Foday Sankoh is not sincere.  It has taken a long time to let the International Community to know that he is a man you cannot do business with.  However we are praying that  the end is here.

The demonstration on Monday 8th May 2000 is first of its kind.  This demonstration was organised by the Civil Society Movement and the Parliamentarian.  The church and the Inter-Religious Council were also involved.  The demonstration was over a mile long and there were people from all works of life.

Prior to the Monday demonstration the women had their own on Saturday 6th May 2000.  The women's demonstration was successful but while they were reading their statement on that  day Sankoh's boys were making signs to the women, signs that reminded them of January 6th 1999.

The Monday 8th May 2000 demonstration is out of the frustration of the whole nation that we can no longer  carry on this way.  This frustration came to a climax with the abduction of over 300 UNAMSIL Soldiers and with the rumour that Sankoh was planning a coup.  Sankoh's men did not only abduct UNAMSIL Soldier but they took all their arms and these are the arms that they are using to make further attack round the country.

On Monday when part of the demonstration got to his house, his boys started to stone at the crowd this continued for sometime.  The people also started to return the stones.  The crowd was too much for the UNAMSIL guards at Sankoh's house to control.  One UNAMSIL officer thought one way to control the crowd was to give a warning shut.  One UNAMSIL shut in the air and it was after this that Sankoh's boys who were heavily armed started to shoot at the crowd at very close range.  This is how the demonstration ended.  The Sierra Leone Army and the Kamajors soon took over the house and in the mist of all this we do not know where Sankoh is.  The total number of people who have died as a result of this shooting is now 19.  There are over thirty wounded in hospital.  Today we are having a civic funeral for the dead in the National Stadium.

Similar demonstrations have been held in Bo and Kenema respectively.

Patches of rebels are still moving around the country causing mayhem.  There is already movement of people from the Waterloo Misiaka, Newton and Mile 91 areas although this in now under control.  This however means that those who are in the camps in Waterloo, Grafton and the newly arrived from Misiaka, Newton and Mile 91  are having food, accommodation and health problems.  We are presently moving around to see what could be done.  Freetown itself is quite and people are going about their business.  We are all going to work each day.

Bo and Kenema are quite and there is not much that we have heard off in the Kailahun District.  It seems that it is the rebels in the North that are still up in arms.  It has now be revealed that Sankoh was planning a coup.  The plan was that wen the trouble starts in Freetown his boys in Makeni would have easily got to Freetown.

I will continue to give an update on the situation from time to time.  We need your prayers and you all have to help lobby with the 'powers that be' to help Sierra Leone come to a final conclusion of its problems.

I wish you God's blessings.

Yours sincerely

Francis S Nabieu (Rev)

President of Conference