WHO IS FODAY SANKOH

                                                   WHO IS FODAY SANKOH

Foday Sankoh (October 17, 1937- July 29, 2003) was the leader and founder of the Sierra Leone rebel group Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in the 11 years civil war of Sierra Leone, which started in 1991 and ended in 2002. Foday Sankoh achieved his primary and secondary education in Magburaka,Tonkolili District and took a hand full of jobs before joining the Sierra Leone Army in 1956. He was trained in Nigeria and the United Kingdom. In 1971, then a corporal in the Army, he was cashiered from the army's single corps and imprisoned for seven years at the Pademba Road prison in Freetown for taking part in a mutiny. After his release, he eventually came in contact with young radicals and finding his way to Libya for insurgency training in 1988. This was organised by the late Muammarr Gaddafi who also help to bring Charles Taylor to power. The amputation of arms and legs of men, women and children was designed to take over the region's rich diamond field and was backed by Gaddafi, who supported the RUF with weapons.In 2000 Foday Sankoh was arrested. That event led to massive celebration throughout Sierra Leone. Sankoh was handed to the British and, under jurisdiction of a UN- backed court; he was indicted on 17 counts for various war crimes, including use of child soldiers, and crimes against Humanity, including extermination, enslavement, rape and sexual slavery. He later died of stroke in the year 2003.