On one level, the pictures could be seen as depicting Sierra Leone weeping, crying for recognition from the hypocritical "niceties" of the Western world.

Could our situation be compared to Kosovo? No it could not. What about East Timor? Definitely it can't be. But here was Sierra Leone falling apart in the clear gaze of the Western world. I must doff my heart to Sorius for going at arms length in exposing the evils that were orchestrated by the fighting forces- clearly Ecomog was portrayed as an adversary force.

But again what was the motive behind this documentary? I heard someone tapping my back and saying; "Man, these Western powers are not happy about the numerous sacrifices Nigeria has made here and would want to do anything to discredit them. It is not just in this country. Nigeria, which is the backbone of Ecomog, has been doing excellent work in other peacekeeping missions the world over. Besides, Nigeria is eyeing a seat as a permanent member in the Security Council as well as serving as a Big brother in Africa. This, the Western world don't want to be and would therefore do anything to frustrate it. Therefore presenting the Nigerian led force that has done remarkably well in this country in a dark light is a good starting point.

I tell you man, this is why they fell for the documentary showing the odd sides of Ecomog".

Time it was on a Thursday night- 9.00pm to be precise. The Place: though it was live on CNN, I was languishing at the Mary Kingsley Auditorium- FBC struggling to get a vantage position among the hundreds of students to watch the much publicised documentary as if I were not an eye witness to the real drama on January 6th.

The pictures themselves were horrendous and it took one with a great mind to face the atrocities that were committed by the guys behind the guns. Kids as young as 6 were clinging to their tools of destruction -AK 47s and RPGs as if they were pens and pencils to be used in scribbling ABC. Innocent civilians were left at the mercy of heartless barbarians who were God's messengers of death on earth Interestingly, the documentary stressed on Ecomog soldiers' apprehension of people who look like civilians and in the next instant, without regards for the Geneva Convention sending them to the world far beyond.

However, a lot of controversies have risen over Ecomog's role in the Sierra Leone crisis. Ecomog was supposed to be seen as a professional force involved in the crisis purely on a peacekeeping mission to avert a catastrophe that was coming closer to genocide. Unfortunately for one reason or another they were drawn into the crisis to the extent that they had to pay the rebels in their own coin. A few people had to suffer in the hands of Ecomog so that the majority would survive.

I am not trying to be an apologia for Ecomog or any fighting force, that is not the point. Rather, the point is in the form of this question -was there any other reasonable alternative for Ecomog to ensure that security improved in the city apart from dealing with some undesirables? Personally I see none. Here was a force fighting a war that was very unconventional a war against a dastardly guerilla enemy that was using counter-revolutionary tactics.

Consider this as well, the terrain itself was foreign, the civilians whom Ecomog was supposed to be protecting were invariably harbouring the rebels inside their houses and under their beds. Let us not also forget that the constitutional army that had sworn to uphold the constitution of the land had reneged from their scared duty and had joined forces with their former enemies to form an "unholy alliance". Basically, Ecomog had no choice, every Sierra Leonean was seen as a potential enemy who could be an innocent civilian at one time, and at another, a very dangerous sniper hiding somewhere, battle-ready to knock down an Ecomog soldier. It is no surprise that kids were portrayed as the most efficient machinery in the rebel war game.

Close your eyes for a moment, imagine you are inside your house with an entire family of nine. Rebels surround your house and open fire. Try to break the door and escape, but you are afraid of being stoned to get inside and dance to the musical tune of death.

You may think this may never happen in Sierra Leone, but it had. It happened. Watch Cry Freetown and definitely you would not stop holding back your tears.

I saw my English lecturer crying, fighting to hold back his tears over the brutal display of chaos and anarchy. At one point in time, I thought I was at a vigil as the Mary Kingsley auditorium was drown in tears, everybody was weeping, especially the female students. It was indeed an emotional scene.

Discussing with my colleagues, some say the documentary is untimely. "It should not have been shown as yet. It should have been ten years later," they said.

To some extent, I agree with them. Now is the time that we should be talking about forgiveness and reconciliation and not opening old wounds as was evident in the documentary.

How can people like Karim Sesay feel about mixing with the same soldiers who not only gave him a nasty beating, but gunned down his mother, father and brothers as well. I feel for you Karim, but let's put that to the dustbin of history for now.

To us who were living witnesses to the Jan 6th death drama, what was shown on "Cry Freetown" was a far cry of the actual happenings. In fact some may not miss it much as NPA was at his best giving blackout and the SLBS-TV may have borrowed a leaf from NPA thereby preventing some of my colleagues especially Sulaiman Momodu from watching the documentary.

Little wonder that Sulaiman nearly took NPA and SLBS-TV to court for denying him access to Cry Freetown.

On the whole, "Cry Freetown" should be kept for posterity so that our coming generation would sit down in their quiet moment and reflect on the barbaric nature of their ancestors.

Cry Freetown is indeed a crying scenario that unravels the hypocritical double standards of the Western powers who failed to stop the carnage from escalating to the level portrayed, and at the same time, the heartless disregard that Sierra Leoneans have for their kin and kith.

Foday Sankoh and his cohorts need to get a look at Cry Freetown, comprehend it better and help us enjoy peace once and for all. Or else, Freetown will not only cry again but rather bleed to death.

I hope to see a brighter future for this country and city as free in peace as its name Freetown, not a city that would qualify as Cry Freetown.