Sierra Leonean minister fired after video shows him with drug lord

Sierra Leone's president has sacked the head of the country's immigration service days after footage was published showing him receiving a birthday gift from a fugitive Dutch drug kingpin.

- Eromo Egbejule

The footage of Alusine Kanneh being handed a present by Johannes Leijdekkers - which has not been independently verified by the Guardian - was published by the investigative outlet Follow the Money and the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad on Friday.

The dinner is understood to have been held in an upmarket restaurant in Freetown, the country's capital.

Leijdekkers, 33, one of Europe's most wanted fugitives, was sentenced in absentia to 24 years in prison for drug smuggling by a Rotterdam court last June.

Kanneh was relieved of his duties the same day the reports were published but authorities in Freetown did not disclose the reason for his dismissal in a short statement by the presidential secretary.

For months speculation has swirled in the west African country that Kanneh and other members of the political elite had been helping Leijdekkers accumulate influence.