Sam Bockarie Samuel Sam Bockarie widely known as Mosquito ( October 2 , 1964 − May 5 , 2003 ) was a leading member of the Revolutionary United Front ( RUF ) in Sierra Leone . Bockarie was infamous during the Sierra Leone Civil War for his brutal tactics , which included amputation , mutilation , and rape . He earned the nickname " Mosquito " for his ability to attack when his enemies were off - guard . During his service in the RUF , he befriended future Liberian president Charles Taylor , and RUF commander Foday Sankoh . When Sankoh was imprisoned from March 1997 until April 1999 , Bockarie served as commander of the RUF in his place . Youth . Sam Bockarie was born on February 12 , 1964 in Koidu Town , Kono District in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone . Bockarie was the son of a diamond miner and he was raised in his hometown of Koidu Town . Following in his father ' s footsteps , Bockarie dropped out of secondary school to become a diamond miner . In 1985 , he left the mines and started a career as a professional disco dancer , touring the countryside . He eventually moved to Liberia , and then to Abidjan , Côte d ' Ivoire where he worked as a barber , electrician , and waiter . Military career . In 1989 , Charles Taylor ' s National Patriotic Front of Liberia ( NPFL ) invaded Liberia from Côte d ' Ivoire , where Bockarie was living at the time . However , Bockarie did not join until later that year , when he met recruits who were talking about taking action in Sierra Leone . He went with the group to join guerilla training exercises held along the border of Sierra Leone and Liberia . He was officially a part of the newly formed RUF in 1990 , and was a part of the initial excursion into Sierra Leone in 1991 . In 1992 , Bockarie made the move into the upper leadership of the RUF , becoming Battle Group Commander , answerable only to the Battle Field Commander and Foday Sankoh , the leader of the RUF . In March 1997 , Sankoh fled to Nigeria , where he was put under house arrest , and then imprisoned . From this time until Sankoh ' s release in 1999 , Bockarie performed the task of director of military operations of the RUF , receiving advice from Taylor . Note : this said relationship with Taylor is not proven . During this time , Sankoh worked with the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council ( AFRC ) , the group of Sierra Leone Army ( SLA ) officers which had overthrown President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah on 25 May 1997 , and held the presidency until February 1998 . Bockarie held the position of Chief of Defence Staff in the RUF / AFRC led junta government . In January , 1999 , Bockarie along with AFRC commander Johnny Paul Koroma planned and made a devastating attack on Freetown , the capital of Sierra Leone . On 7 July 1999 , the Lomé Peace Accord was signed by president Kabbah and RUF / AFRC leader Sankoh , after Sankoh had gotten the consent of his field commanders , including Bockarie . However tension continued in Sierra Leone , especially due to a new rebel faction called the West Side Boys , leading to more attacks in and around Freetown in May , 2000 . Bockarie was reluctant to ask his forces to disarm amidst the new tension , and he and Sankoh had a falling out in the early spring of 2000 . ( This assertion is false as it is on record that Bockarie left for Liberia in 1999 with the agreement of West African leaders ) . By the time Freetown was again embroiled in violence , Bockarie had fled to Liberia ' s capital , Monrovia . Rebel forces did not begin to disarm until 2001 . Indictment for crimes against humanity . On 3 March 2003 , Sam Bockarie was indicted for crimes against humanity , violation of the Geneva Convention and violation of international humanitarian law . He has been slated for trial by the Special Court for Sierra Leone ( SCSL ) . Bockarie was accused of colluding with the AFRC / RUF coalition to take over much of Sierra Leone , particularly the diamond rich areas such as the Kenema and Kono district s . During this time , Bockarie commanded his troops to attack civilian populations who he felt were supporting the government of Ahmad Tejan Kabbah , including the use of mutilation and sexual violence . These attacks brought to the world the horrific images of children with missing arms and legs . He was also accused of recruiting child soldiers and abducting people to fight with him , and of attacking UN peacekeepers working under UNAMSIL . In exile . After fleeing Sierra Leone in 2000 , Bockarie joined with Taylor ' s Anti - Terrorist Unit ( ATU ) in Liberia , eventually moving to the Ivory Coast , where he participated in the rebellion led by Guillaume Soro in connection with the Gbatala base headed by Charles Taylor . Under international pressure , Taylor initiated a policy of disengagement with regards to former RUF leaders , and officially expelled Bockarie from the country , although he was reported to have continued to travel freely between Liberia and Côte d ' Ivoire . In order to secure peace in the Ivorian Civil War , and increase trade with president Laurent Gbagbo , Taylor is said to have asked Bockarie to assassinate Ivorian rebel leader Félix Doh , who was killed in April , 2003 . As early as 27 April 2003 , Bockarie ' s actions had brought him back into Liberian territory , where Charles Taylor was now President . The UN received news of Bockarie ' s presence , and put pressure on Taylor to apprehend him and turn him over to the SCSL . Late in the day on Monday , 5 May 2003 , Bockarie was killed in what was officially reported to be a shootout with Liberian forces . There is some controversy that , since Bockarie ' s testimony at the SCSL could have implicated Taylor , Taylor sent the troops to find and kill Bockarie , rather than to arrest the man ( Perspective , 2003 ) . In any case , after a short time of confusion over the veracity of reports on Bockarie ' s death , proceedings against Bockarie by the SCSL were terminated on 8 December 2003 .