Sierra Leone, 1993 — dissident coup conspiracy
Event Summary
This entry is coded 16 October 1993, during the consolidation of the National Provisional Ruling Council military junta under Captain Valentine Strasser in Sierra Leone, amid the ongoing civil war against the Revolutionary United Front and a climate of repression and anti-junta conspiracy fears. Strasser and a small group of junior officers had seized power on 29 April 1992, deposing President Joseph Momoh, suspending the constitution, banning political parties, and ruling by decree with sweeping powers of detention. At the end of 1992 the NPRC crushed an alleged coup plot aimed at freeing detained officers, summarily executing more than two dozen soldiers and detainees, including the popular Lieutenant Colonel Yaya Kanu.
By late 1993 the Sierra Leone Army, aided by Nigerian ECOMOG troops, had pushed the RUF back toward the Liberian border and many observers thought the war nearly over, even as human rights abuses and summary executions continued. On 26 November 1993 Strasser announced a unilateral ceasefire and a democratic-transition timetable. The 16 October 1993 coding sits in this period of anti-NPRC conspiracy fears and regime repression in the second year of Strasser's rule.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Sources
Editorial Note
Cross-Reference
Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
- Cline Center id
45110161993
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Strasser's NPRC held power against conspiracies until he was himself deposed in a 1996 coup.
Baseline coding: Plot discovered and disrupted before execution. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Baseline Source-Document Entries
CSP
South China Morning Post
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →