Reports coming from the Rural District of Waterloo state that a young man by the name of Christian Yokie, residing in the Rural town of Mambo, narrowly escaped lynching at the hands of some angry youths after being caught in the act of same sex, a practice that is outlawed in Sierra Leone, and described by both religious faiths in the country as demonic and should not be encouraged.
According to sources in the town, Christian comes from a very devout Christian family, with both parents and all siblings actively involved in observing strict Christian principles. His father, Francis H. Yokie, is a Pastor in one of the churches in the village.It was further disclosed that Christian has been seen regularly in the company of a friend, Joseph Koroma, by most people in the community, but this did not raise any eyebrow, as it was common for youths to be seen moving around freely and associating with others on various recreational activities, as well as religious. Things came to the fore that Christian was gay when, on 13th September 2022, he was caught red-handed by a neighbor, Fatmata, who had left her phone for charging in his room. According to neighbors and youths in the area,Fatmata had left her phone and was said to have gone out. Unfortunately, she returned much earlier than anticipated, and went to collect her phone to call her friends with whom she was to spend the evening with. It was at that juncture that she stumbled on both Christian and his partner having sex in his room, oblivious that the door was not locked. Upon this sudden discovery, Fatmata is said to have raised an alarm, which drew neighbors and youths around, to the house and the room. They then descended on both individuals, dragging them out of the house in their underwears, where they were mercilessly beaten. During the beating, other youths then surfaced. Christian and his partner, Joseph, are said to have managed to escape from their grip, but in the process, his Joseph stumbled and fell down and was caught by the pursuing community youths. As Christian was ahead in the race, he simply made good his escape when the crowd captured his partner. Our Source further disclosed that Christian’s partner was severely beaten and left helpless on the street. Report say that he died in the hospital few days later.
Family sources of Christian Yokie say that they never knew that he was gay, and only got to know about his sexuality when he was caught. His father is said to have been very mad when he heard that his son was gay and that he was caught in his house, a known Christian home. He stressed that his son must have gotten into that unholy act through association with satanic people, and vowed to pursue Christian and make him pay for the disgrace he has brought on his family and his name. Family sources say that they have been seeing both youths together severally, but had no idea that they were gay. They felt that they were merely together because of their love for football, a common past time of many youths in the community.
Following this discovery, residents in the area embarked on a search for Christian, on the grounds of preventing him from spreading his devilish practice to other youths in the community. His known friends were raided in search of Christian, but to no avail. When asked about the whereabouts of Christian, his family said that since he was dragged out of the house, his whereabouts are unknown, and he is feared to have died from the beating inflicted on him, especially as there was evidence that his partner, Joseph, died shortly in the hospital from his injuries.
Same sex practice in Sierra Leone is illegal, and anyone caught is often either beaten to death or if arrested by the police, are sentenced to long jail terms. As far as the police is concern, they often turn a blind eye to such occurrences, and let the community carry out mob justice, which is often referred to as good riddance. Activists calling for legalization of Gay and Lesbianism in the country have often had death threats and attacked, that many have gone underground.
As we go to press, the whereabouts of Christian Yokie are unknown, and even feared dead.
