Foday, 38, a reporter for the
private daily The Exclusive,
died from a stab wound suffered during violent clashes over a disputed 10-acre
plot between the neighboring villages of Kossoh and Grafton, about 15 miles (25
kilometers) southeast of the capital, Freetown, according to the Sierra Leone
Association of Journalists.
Police said they arrested two
suspects, Victor Haffner, a Kossoh community
leader, and a police constable, Musa Samura. A third suspect, Haffner’s
driver, was being sought, local journalists said.
The Exclusive said Foday was
targeted as both a journalist, for taking photographs during the clashes, and
as a perceived party to the dispute because of his role as a Grafton youth
leader. Potential witnesses could be deterred from speaking out because of the presence
of a police barracks in the area and the influence of the Kossoh leader,
according to local journalist Emma Black, who
covered the murder for Sky Radio.
Six people were injured over
the course of three days of clashes, according to Exclusive Publisher Sheik
Sesay, who said Foday had written four stories about the land dispute and had
not reported any threats. Foday was the father of two, according to
local journalists.