Reports reaching us from Kataneh Village, Kambia District, Sierra Leone, reveal that on the 7th of January 2024, a young man by the name of Kabba Sesay narrowly escaped death at the hands of secret society members, who had forcefully conscripted him for initiation into the Matorma Society, a much-dreaded secret society in Kambia District in the northern part of the country.
According to our source, an eyewitness living next door, Kabba Sesay has been living in that village for quite some time. He later left for schooling in Freetown and returned to the village when his father died. Unknown to him, his father had instructed stakeholders of the village to initiate him as the next chief of the Secret Society, which he refused on many occasions. It was disclosed that on one fateful night, he heard voices outside the house. Upon opening the door, a group of young men descended on him and captured him.
Mohamed Conteh (not his real name for security reasons), a resident in the neighborhood, informed this medium that he saw the men overpower Kabba Sesay and take him away into the night. He furthered that in the morning, information went around the village that some youths had been taken for initiation by the secret society members, and one of them is the son of the late chief of the Secret Society, Kabba Sesay. Since it is a men’s secret society, women were not allowed to ask questions or even intimate that they witnessed what happened, as it would bring a penalty of a dreaded curse on the women and family.
Another youth (name withheld for his security), who is a member of the society, informed this medium that whilst Kabba Sesay was in a house where he was kept for a while before being moved to the forest (bush) where he was supposed to be given the treatment that all of them went through, namely: beating and traditional medicine. Kabba Sesay almost destroyed all the traditional medicine that was supposed to be used, and he had to face the consequences of doing that; he was tied in a room.
Later at night, he was taken away from the village, where the first ceremony was done, but one of his family members heard him crying. After being beaten and his body was bleeding, he went around the room where he was tied, untied himself, and ran into the bush. He went to a nearby village called KuKuna Village, where information reached the society members, and they arrived at the scene a few hours later. They surrounded the bush and village in search of Kabba but to no avail. They then returned to Kataneh Village in search of him.
After that effort proved futile, they warned family members that if they hid him, they would pay dearly with their lives, as Kabba Sesay had seen what they do in their sacred shrine and should not go free. He should, at all costs, be initiated or face death if he refuses.
Family members spoken to say that since the abduction of Kabba Sesay by the secret society members, they have not been able to set eyes on him, nor do they know of his whereabouts. They only heard of his escape when the members came back to look for him, after some three (3) days in their custody.
When asked why the matter was not reported to the police, they furthered that almost all the officers and the elders in the village are aware of such initiations, and a good number of them are members, as a result, they will do nothing, except promise to look for him.
Family members say that on several occasions, the society members had visited their home and issued threats against them, including threats to kill Kabba Sesay when he is found. In many parts of the country, initiation into secret societies is sanctioned by tradition, and elders cooperate fully.
Women do not have a say on such matters, as they too have their own secret societies.
Whilst members of such societies claim that this system is their rite of passage to manhood, their rituals often result in deaths of some of the recruits, due to the inhumane traditional practices meted out on the initiates. As a resul