With threats of imminent death hanging over her head, a young lady by the name of Isha Koroma, living with her aunt in the northern town of Makeni, is reported to have gone into hiding after escaping from angry members of one of the dreaded secret society in the country.
Her disappearance has put other members of her family under threat of annihilation. According to family members, Isha Koroma had ventured out of Makeni in search of her father, who fled their village during the war, when the village was overrun by rebels, and has since not been seen. She was then brought to Makeni by her mother, where they lived with her aunt. Unfortunately, her mother is said to have gone to look for her husband and has also not returned, feared dead. As a result, she was brought up by her aunt.
Getting of age, news of her father being alive and living in a remote village in northern Sierra Leone…… reached the family and she decided to embark on the journey to locate him. She is said to have left the house in Makeni on 13th November 2021, and arrived at a village close to another village where the father is said to be living, but the said village was not motorable, except going through a bush path.
According to the aunt, Isha Koroma returned on the night of 15th November 2021, haggard, with bruises on her arms and legs, appearing apprehensive. She disclosed that Isha narrated how she took the wrong bush path and surfaced at a society bush, the shrine of one of the dreaded secret societies in the country, the Poro Secret Society, and barely escaped capture and elimination. The said secret society is a solely male traditional secret society, believe to have mystical powers. And women and non-initiated male are not allowed to grace their activities, not to talk of enter their shrine, as the penalty of such violation is death: a sacrifice to their deity.
Family members explained that Isha told them that she was pursued by the members when they noticed her presence, and she managed to escape from them after she was concealed by an old woman in a nearby village. She is said to have explained how she heard the members making death threats against her and anyone harboring her. She is said to have made good her escape later that night via another bush path under the direction of the old woman. The bruises on her body were as a result of scrambling through the bush during the night to get to safety.
Her aunt explained that on the basis of the story narrated by Isha Koroma, it was decided that she was not safe in the township, and that she should leave and find somewhere to hide. She then left the house on 15th November 2021. The aunt furthered that on the next day, after Isha left the house, some members of the secret of stormed their residence in search of her. They even threatened to bring harm (spiritually) on the members of the family if they refuse to give her up.
It is a taboo, punishable by death, for a woman to go into the shrine of the said secret society, and when caught, that individual simply disappears. Entry into the shrine of the said secret society by non-members is described as desecration of the society shrine. In the case of a non-initiated male, he is forcefully initiated, after serious torture, while for a female, it is instant death, to prevent her from leaking information about the shrine and what transpires there. Top government officials are members of these secret societies, and no question is asked about any action taken by the society. It is even taboo to discuss such matters.
According to family sources, members of the society have vowed to execute the ultimate punishment for such desecration of their shrine by Isha Koroma. As we go to press, family members say that her whereabouts are still unknown.
Over Allegation Of Desecration…Dreaded Secret Society Issues Death Threats Against Isha Koroma
