S Leone mob seeks police 'conman'

Sierra Leonean youths have staged a violent demonstration in the town of Bo, demanding that a police officer on trial for fraud be handed over to them.

Koroma is accused of defrauding youngsters hoping to get work

Baba Koroma, the superintendent and head of special police constabulary in Bo, 248 kilometres (155 miles) from the capital, Freetown, was in court to answer charges of defrauding the public.

The BBC's Richard Magao in Bo says the unemployed youths claim Mr Koroma had conned them into parting with a total of about $8,000 in exchange for the promise of work.

Armed with stones and sticks, they clashed with the police around the court house as they tried to enter the building in an attempt to get Mr Koroma to face "jungle (mob) justice" rather than go through the normal court proceedings.

Another group of youths went to the house of the accused and threatened to burn it down, claiming that it was built with the money Mr Koroma collected from them.

But the police managed to control and disperse them.

Goats and sheep

The officer had established a recruitment camp in Bo, where about 1,400 unemployed youths paid a fee to register between November 2002 and February 2003, our correspondent says.

Those who could not afford the cash paid him in goats and sheep.

Mr Koroma is alleged to have told the youths that a well-known German construction company had contracted him to build a road which would link Bo to Freetown.

"That was an attractive incentive because people know that the company pays very well," our reporter says.

Bo residents are said to be shocked by the allegations against Mr Koroma, because police in their area are known to be trustworthy.