Reports reaching this press reveal that one Jonathan Kai Bafindor of Kammaa Chiefdom in the Kono District, Eastern Sierra Leone, is being desperately sought after by members of the dreadful Secret Society, ‘the Poro’, after he is said to have openly revealed how he was treated in the secret society bush after forcefully taken from his home and initiated on 24th December 2021.
According to our correspondence in Kono, Jonathan Kai Bafindor was forcefully abducted from his home at Kammaa Chiefdom on the night of 24th December 2021, and taken to the secret society shrine in the forest, where he was subjected to various inhumane treatment, all in the name of the society’s rituals, a very harmful traditional practice observed by various tribes in the country, as rite of passage to manhood. It was also revealed that prior to his abduction, Jonathan had vehemently opposed taking part in such a ceremony, much to the displeasure of some familymembers and elders of the Chiefdom. His excuse had been that there have been many cases where recruits have died in the process of initiation, and no action has ever been taken by anyone, not even the authorities, as most of them where members of the secret society in the country. Discussions about such practices were taboo, and people engaged in such discussions have the society to contend with, which could lead to loss of life. As a result, all disappearances of those recruits went unreported. Family members were told that their Gods had taken the deceased, and they should count themselves lucky to have their sons chosen specially by the Gods.
According to our correspondent, Jonathan was abducted at night by a group of youths, in the company of elders in the society, and taken into the bush. Eye witnesses, who wish to remain anonymous, say that they saw Jonathan put up heavy resistance against his abductors, but was over-powered by their sheer numbers and taken away. It was further disclosed that after undergoing all the rituals, the handing over ceremony was scheduled to take place on 24th January 2022 at the Village center. Eye witnesses say that during the said open ceremony of handing over, Jonathan, apparently out of anger, told the crowd what he had gone through in the hands of the secret society members in the shrine in the forest. As he continued to explain his ordeal, members of the secret society descended on him to shut him up. It was then that he took to the nearby bush, pursued by youths of the secret society.
Female Family members later told this medium that they got to know that Jonathan had escaped when the youths came to their house looking for him, late that night, threatening to kill him if found. Our correspondent furthered that family members were threatened with death if they are caught harboring Jonathan, as what he had done was a taboo, punishable by death.These women say that they could not protest against the action taken by the secret society members because the whole affair is purely a male thing, and even on the handing over ceremony, women are not allowed to attend, also non-initiates are not allowed to witness the ceremony. They further confirmed to this medium that members of the secret society have continually stormed their house in search of Jonathan from the day he disappeared, and thatsince that fateful day, nothing has been known ort heard of Jonathan.
As we go to press the secret society has strengthened their hunt for Jonathan, storming neighboring villages and leaving threatening messages. The whereabouts of Jonathan Kai Bafindor are still unknown.
