This story was first published in November. 2017
The Poro Society in Lunsar town in the Marampa chiefdom, Port Loko District, and its environs have mounted a round-the-clock search for Mohamed Sesay now declared fugitive.
Reports state that Mohamed Sesay is accused of refusing to comply with the tradition of the Poro society in the community when he visited Lunsar on holidays,
Mohamed Sesay was on holiday in Lunsar when he was captured by members of the Poro society but he was fortunate to escape from the bush at midnight.
Explaining his ordeal, one of the captured boys who refused to be named told this press that Mohamed Sesay and his friends were playing football in the nearby village when the society men stormed the field and arrested most of them.
“They took us to the Poro bush, tied us, and told all of us to sit down on the floor while we are beating up mercilessly”, he said.
He went further that, the society men told us that we must be initiated into the Poro Secret Society and adhere to the oath of secrecy.
Our investigation further revealed that since mid-October 2017, Mohamed Sesay who was captured and escaped from the Poro bush, is currently on the run, in fear for his life, especially what he saw when he was abducted and taken to the Poro Society bush, where he underwent most inhumane ritual, described as part of their initiation rites in the Chiefdom. Our information further revealed that Mohamed Sesay narrowly escaped from the hands of the initiators in the secret shrine in the bush, out of fear that he might lose his life.
A senior member of the Society group disclosed to this medium, on condition of anonymity, that the fugitive, Mohamed Sesay refused to come home after information was leaked that his life is at stake because he refused to go through the initiation rather than escape from the Poro bush to an unknown destination.
According to sources close to the Secret Society hierarchy, the penalty of betrayal (refusing to comply with the tradition of the community) is death through unconventional means that leave no room for police investigation.
The said practice is said to be a tradition in the chiefdom that every male child in the village or even you are on holiday as long as you have relatives is that part of the country you need to become a member, as deviating from it is tantamount to disobedience to the gods of the land and is seen as a sacrilege.
According to our source, the Poro Society is hell-bent on initiating Mohamed Sesay and his colleagues, because members of the secret society need more young men to be part of the Society as they will be future leaders tomorrow, especially in the Poro society.
It was also revealed that Mohamed Sesay has reached the age to be initiated; therefore, he is expected to voluntarily report to the Poro Society elders for the due ceremony. But certainly, Mohamed Sesay is not interested to join the Poro Society because it’s not morally decent and unethical for his health and the Islamic religion which led him not to cooperate with the process.
According to our investigation, it was revealed that the members of the society had raided the family home of Mohamed Sesay on several occasions, and are currently offering a reward (according to tradition) of 1 goat, 2 cows, 12 cups of rice and one chicken for information leading to his location whenever he visits Sierra Leone.
It could also be recalled that due to the rampant unethical activities of these secret societies in the country, the Government of Sierra Leone in a press release through the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs has placed ban on all secret societies activities in the country, but surprisingly even though the Government has placed a ban on it some are still practicing it in the name of maintaining the country’s tradition.
The continuous activities of these secret society groups mean that the Government is unable to put a stop to all secret societies. Recently the Anti-Corruption Commission was unable to interview the former President of Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma, on matters raised in the Government’s White Paper because he’s a member of one of the secret societies and whenever they are out in the streets even the Police cannot go out on the streets which prevented the official of the Commission from doing the said interview.
Till Press time, family members of Mohamed Sesay have confirmed to this medium that they are constantly under harassment and threat by the elders of the secret society and, that the members of the Chiefdom Secret Society group are still searching for him with a reward of one (1) goat, Twelve (12) cups rice and one chicken for information leading to his location whenever he visits Sierra Leone.
