Editing Valentine Strasser (section)

==1992 coup and tenure as head of state ==
During Strasser's time at the war front in Kailahun District against the RUF, the Government of Sierra Leone led by president [[Joseph Saidu Momoh]] hardly supplied enough boots to the soldiers and the necessary military equipment to help fortify Strasser and his fellow soldiers in the war against the RUF. The soldiers never received their salaries on time and their welfare was hardly at the top of the government's list of priorities.

After many appeals, warnings or threats, the young soldiers decided to march down in their combat from [[Kailahun]] to the [[State House (Sierra Leone)|State House]] in Freetown on 29 April 1992, to protest about their setbacks in pursuing the war, demanding their outstanding salaries. The group of soldiers was led by Strasser himself and his two best friends and fellow soldiers [[Seargent]] [[Solomon Musa]] and [[Captain]] Sahr Sandy. The appearance of the soldiers in the capital city forced president Momoh to flee the country and he went into [[exile]] in [[Conakry]], Guinea. This power vacuum motivated Strasser and his men to seize power, forming the NPRC, with Strasser as its leader and the [[Head of State]] of the country. Strasser became the youngest [[Head of State]] in the world at just twenty five years old.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/news/614 |title=Akam '09 profiles former African dictator Valentine Strasser |first=Simon |last=Akam |date=13 February 2012 |work=Columbia Journalism School |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131210222818/http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/news/614 |archive-date=10 December 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.worldpress.org/Africa/3216.cfm |title=Harvest of Shame: Former Sierra Leonean Ruler Valentine Strasser |first=Roland |last=Marke |date=4 August 2008 |work=[[World Press Review]]}}</ref>