On Wednesday 11th October, 2023, the Police Chief, Mr. William Fayia Sellu witnessed the closing ceremony of a three-day Cyber and Digital Evidence training at the Sierra Leone Peacekeeping and Law Enforcement Academy (SILEA), Hastings campus.
With aid and collaborations from the Attorney General Alliance (AGA) Africa Programme, the forty (40) participants were drawn from various Regions with special priority to officers posted to Cyber Units in all the six (6) Police Regions across the country.
The training Commenced on Monday, 9th October 2023, focused on improving the knowledge-base of officers on cyber security and crime and key among the training contents were:
the new Cyber Act; Introduction to Cyber Crime; Electronic Evidence; Sources and Criteria for Admissibility and Legal Authority in the Handling of Electronic Evidence.
As an integral aspect of dealing with cyber crimes, facilitators also dealt with
honouring requests for information from international partners.
Facilitators were both local and international, four SLP’s professionals in the field of cyber investigations and three international facilitators from Ghana, Zambia and Kenya respectively.
In his keynote address, IGP Sellu expressed his appreciation for the timely conduct of the training, taking into account the trend in the commissioning of cyber crimes in the country. Given that such training would adequately inform officers responsible to manage and investigate such offences.
He furthered that the knowledge acquired should be used effectively and efficiently in tackling crimes of such nature in their respective areas of operations.
“I want to see positive impact from you the trainees based on the knowledge acquired and fly like an eagle in fighting cyber crimes, especially the wrong people that have occupied the cyber space”, noting, that equipment to set up a fully functional forensic laboratory will soon be received from our good partners to be able to fight cyber crimes in the country.
He thanked AGA- Africa for considering the Police as key partner in the fight against cyber attack and the knowledge imparted to our police officers.
IGP Sellu emphasised on the timeliness of the training and admonished participants to effectively use the skills and knowledge acquired through out the three days intensive training, he added.
Similar statements were made by ACP Esther Kaintor-Dukuray, the Ag. Director of Training, who encouraged beneficiaries to diligently utilise the skills and expertise gained during the training.
Awarding of Certificates to deserving participants climaxed the occasion followed by group photos and other pleasantries.
