Mohamed Sillah Faces Death Threats in Poro Bush

By Kadiatu Sankoh

Mahmoud Sillah, a native of Makeni, Bombali District, Northern part of Sierra Leone,report states was found helpless in the bush after he tried to escape from the hands of Poro Society Men who were reported to have kidnapped him in the night and taken him to a secluded location in the Poro Society Bush for rituals and initiation.

Times SL reporter who investigated this issue reported that about 15 members of the Poro Secret Society stormed Sillah’s home at around midnight, on October 10th 2021 forcibly took him away and subjected him to severe treatment after he refused to undergo initiation into the society.
According to investigation, the incident occurred several weeks after the death of Sillah’s father on the 5th of September 2021.
The young man was said to have returned home at about midnight after watching an English Premier League football match at a cinema. His wife,report states,was asleep when Sillah arrived home and entered his house.

Few minutes later, there was a knock on the door and Sillah who was inside the house went straight to the door to open and find out who was at the door., Madam Sillah explained in tears.

She said when her husband opened the door, she heard him screaming and pipped through the window where she noticed that over 15 people gathered outside.
” they immediately grabbed my husband and took him away singing Poro Society traditional songs. My husband was taken to a Poro society building with his hands and feet tied. I noticed from a distance that members of the group brought out a bowl containing blood and other substances, which they allegedly forced him to drink.
Some members of the group were carrying knives. I saw one of them with plastic materials and candles, heated them with lighter and dripped the hot plastic and candle wax on my husband’s back. She said , her husband spent the night at the location and that an initiation ceremony had been planned for four days later.
However, he managed to escape on the second night after he was left alone.
Madam Sillah explained that she could not sleep for the past days and had also alerted few of her relatives together with her husband relatives to undergo a rescue mission. She said on the second night, she went together with some of her relatives and that of her husband to rescue her husband. But from a distance, they saw her husband climb over a wall of the building and escaped and they later found him lying helplessly and was rushed to a nearby nurse who administered medical treatment on him before was secretly taken out of the community.
The incident followed his refusal to join the Poro Society.

Since he escaped from the building, the Society Men had stormed our house repeatedly looking for him singing songs in their Poro Society language while also drumming their usual traditional drums. They sang in their local society language that if seen Sillah will this time be swallowed by the Poro Devil who they claimed is angry because of what happened.
Sillah’s father who is now late was known to be a senior member of the Poro Society and Sillah being the eldest son was earmarked to replace his late father as per tradition.
Poro Society in Sierra Leone is tied to rituals and mystic powers . Influential people in governance whose backgrounds are from the villages are most likely to members. There are senior police officers, doctors,lawyers judges and politicians who are also member of such fraternity. In the event one want to seek redress in court, they don’t have the kind attention they look out for as the society becomes part of their traditions.

Civil Society Organisations and Human Rights Groups have been denouncing such practices but their concerns always fell on deaf ears.
Sierra Leone 1991 Constitution guarantees the right to free movement, association and belongings but citizens hardly enjoy protection under the law when it comes to cases of traditional society.

There are also reported cases of young boys taken to the Poro Society Bush for initiation but never come back alive.
Sillah’s situation is similar to those whose horrible experience with Poro Society landed them in self exile.