The covenant Newspaper has been carefully doing a follow-up on the desertion of Mohamed Barrie a resident of ‘koribondo’ town, in the southern district of Bo, Sierra Leone.
According to reliable sources, his father Mr. Barrie has been a fervent Muslim who settled at koribondo with his wife and four children of which Mohamed Barrie was the oldest. Even though his father rejected belonging to the ‘poro’ society due to fact that his tribe and religious faith could not allow him, yet he was involuntarily forced by members of the society to get himself initiated into the secret society on the grounds that as a successful businessman in the soil, it is a must that he belonged to the traditional society of the village, in order to show his appreciation to the gods of the land.
After the death of his father on the 20th January 2018, Mohamed Barrie was invited by elder members of the society to the initiation bush to be initiated and accordingly replace his father’s position in the society as dictated by the gods.
Sources furthered that he refused to adhere to their request because as a Muslim and Fula by tribe his faith and tribal background could not permit him do so. Besides, the evil demonstration practically perpetuated by the society further increased his hatred and fear for the secret society. His experience in denying him with the right to see the corpse of his father discouraged him the more.
Our reporter also gathered that, on one fateful night, whilst Mohamed was deeply asleep, a group of society members storm their house, arrested him and forcefully dragged him into their bush and tied him up to a stick.
It was also reported that he was mercilessly thrashed and with both of his hands tied to the stick he was left to sleep in the bush alone.
Whether Mohamed Barrie has been devoured by wild animals or taking away by his ancestral spirit is the mystery that remains unanswered.
Report reaching our reporter also stated that elders of the Poro society in that part of the country have decided to replace the mysteriously missing Mohamed Barrie with the remaining members of the family which has led the mother and remaining children to escape to an unknown destination.
As at of the time of writing this piece Mohamed Barrie and family are still at large.
The Covenant Newspaper is calling on the attention of government and the local government authority to critically look into the disappearance of Mohamed Barrie and to also ensure that the violation of fundamental human rights enshrined in the constitution is nip on the bud by checking some of the powers delegated to some of these secret societies.
