By Karifa Thoronka – Freetown:
There was a physical confrontation and in no time, a group of Poro secret society descended on Michael Sylvester Fullah, overpowered him, and dragged him to a thick forest reported to be the secret shrine of the Poro society at the Mokanji Village in Moyamba District, where he was subjected to the initiate stage of initiation. Michael reported that the process was inhuman, barbaric, painful, and unbearable. By a stroke of luck, he managed to escape.
While explaining to the press the Uncle of Michael Sylvester Fullah by the name of Abdul Fullah noted that, his brother’s son Michael might have traversed through dangerous terrain to escape the Secret Society initiation at the Mokanji Village. Abdul Fullah further narrated that Michael’s father who passed away some years ago was a member of the secret society in the Village. He further explained by saying that Michael Sylvester Fullah who was from the city refused to join the society because many deaths had been reported through Poro initiation ceremony.
Rumor has it that since Michael Sylvester Fullah declined to join and take over his father’s position as head of the Secret Society he will be killed when they see him. While responding to the media a close family member said that the sudden disappearance of their son had caused a serious impact on the family as they had been threatened to produce Michael or the family house would be destroyed.
Since the pre-colonial era, secret societies have played a dominant role in the politics of African societies including Sierra Leone, but over the decades, they have become so powerful that they have gone to the extreme point of becoming dangerous that the police see it as a no-go area.