Youths operating under the banner of the Soja Team have mounted a peaceful protest and roadblocks in the area of Central Mosque after a lifeless body reportedly lay unattended for several days and began to decompose.
According to residents and members of the group repeated appeals were made to the relevant authorities for the body to be retrieved, but no prompt action was taken. Frustrated by the delay, the youths blocked connecting streets to draw attention to the situation and demand immediate intervention.
The presence of the decomposing body has raised serious public health and sanitation concerns in the densely populated area. Residents have complained of the foul odour and the risk of disease, while also highlighting the indignity of leaving a human body exposed in a place of worship and public space for an extended period.
This incident forms part of a wider and recurring problem in Freetown, where unclaimed or destitute bodies are frequently found in public places and sometimes remain for days before removal. Officials have previously reported hundreds of such cases in recent years.
According to the Mayor of Freetown, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, the Freetown City Council no longer maintains a dedicated burial team for street bodies, and residents are directed to contact the Sierra Leone Police emergency line (900).
“Please be reminded that on 1st November 2025, Govt instructed FCC to stop collecting corpses from the streets of Freetown. Corpses are to be collected by the Sierra Leone Police so please call them on 900,” Aki-Sawyerr commented.
“The normalization of death on the streets of all cities in our country is a tragedy that is we must not accept,” a member of the Soja Team said.
Police are expected to respond, examine the scene, and arrange transport to a mortuary, after which further processes for identification or burial follow.
Local residents living near the mosque say the situation has become increasingly distressing, with daily life affected by the unpleasant and potentially hazardous conditions. While the Soja Team’s action has been described as peaceful, the roadblocks temporarily disrupted movement along connecting streets.
Community voices continue to stress the need for a faster, coordinated response that upholds both public health standards and basic human dignity. Authorities have been urged to act without further delay to remove the body and prevent similar incidents from escalating into public frustration.