Investigations mounted by this medium has revealed that a young man by the name of Osman Koroma, narrowly escaped death at the hands of one of the most dreaded secret society, the ‘Poro Secret Society’, after his mother helped him to escaped from his family home (Faryia village), Northern-East Sierra Leone.
According to our source, Osman had returned from Freetown, where he was living, to his village on the invitation of his father (Mohamed Koroma) to attend an urgent and important family meeting. He only came to know of the arrangement for his initiation into the secret society when at night he heard voices outside the house, and with the engagement with his mother (Feremusu Mansaray) , he was told that his father had consented to his initiation into the secret society, and that the voices were those of the members of the society. Family sources say that this situation created tension in the house,as earlier in 2015, the father had offered the eldest son, Osman’s brother for initiation, after which he died, and in 2020 the same situation repeats itself and fear of losing another male child loomed.
According to family sources, Osman was then taken from the house that fateful night, and it is said that on their way to the society shrine in the forest, he escaped and was pursued by society members. They furthered that he did not return to the house, but escaped to the diamond rich district of Kono, where he later left for Freetown.
Speaking with a close friend of Osman, he revealed that he returned to Freetown in a state of shock and was wearing torn shirt and trousers. He later told him his ordeal and warned him not to tell anyone about the incident, as there were also members of the society in Freetown. It was also disclosed that few days after his return, some members of the society surfaced in Freetown and visited his house, but Osman was lucky to have been out of the house and was alerted by his close friend who had been alerted by him of a pending visit and possible attack by society members from the village. Osman is said to have again escaped and gone into hiding, but his whereabouts are unknown.
It was disclosed that according to their tradition, there was an oath that after every five years all members should provides a male child for initiation, his eldest son should automatically be initiated to take his place. This has been the norm and has seen many young people leaving the village for fear of initiation, which is full of risk.
In Osman’s case, the death of his brother after initiation, was a frightening situation for the family and barely few years after, Osman, the second son was to take the place of his late brother.
The said initiation rites was to last for six months, and it was reported that during the process, which included very inhumane traditional rites, some of the new initiates died.
A close friend of Osman, who also wished to remain anonymous, a
Family members corroborate the story of Osman’s disappearance, adding that since he was abducted that night, his whereabouts are unknown, and that the members of the secret society had stormed their house on several occasion, threatening to kill Osman when found, including anyone hiding him.
When asked about moves to report the siad threats to the police, family members say that Politicians and non politicians are members of the Poro Secret Society in the country. Most members are in the governance of the country. In every high place in the country, there is a member. They have huge membership in the police force, the military, government politicians etc, and nothing will come out from their report.
As we go to press, the whereabouts of Osman is still unknown, and a man-hunt by the Secret Society members for him has intensified. This writer could not get the side of any of the society members, as discussing such matter was taboo.
