By Usif Bah
Some stakeholders of the ‘poro’ society, a traditional Sierra Leoneans secret society very active in the north, northwest, east and southern parts of the country are still hunting for one Amara Brima Koroma, the son of the current local chief and head of the poro society at Fogbo village, Chief Ibrahim Koroma.
Amara as he is fondly known was born on 1st December 1999 and according to investigations has gone missing sometimes in early October 2022 following attempts by poro society men to have him abducted and taken into the poro bush for initiation.
Amara was said to have been the apparent successor to his father’s position and had been ambushed by some poro men on the night of Saturday 1st October 2022 at Fogbo following a secret plan with his father, Chief Ibrahim Koroma.
Unfortunately, the plot did not go as planned as Amara was alleged to have sprinkled some unknown substance into the face of his alleged abductor and then ran away. Whether that was true or not still remains a mystery.
However, this has not stopped the search for his whereabouts, as in early November 2022 according to investigations; the search took a new twist as some unidentified men believed to be poro members went to his father’s house at Fogbo village, to inquire about his whereabouts.
Family sources disclosed that the visitors pretended to be relatives of Amara’s mother, but after several discussions , neighbors of Amara’s father concluded that the visitors were poro members who had come to know the whereabouts of Amara. They later informed his father, Chief Ibrahim Koroma who had been on sickbed since his son’s disappearance.
Recalling the circumstances leading to Amara’s disappearance sometimes on the night of Saturday 1st October 2022, the ailing Chief Koroma put all the blame on himself; saying he plotted against his son for him to be snatched away the moment he was spotted that night. He expressed regret over his action, noting that “I acted selfishly”. “Well that is the only way I could have acted as he is my eldest son and in the interest of our tradition, he is the only one that will succeed me”. Asked whether he knew his son’s whereabouts, he replied in the negative.
He declined to comment on rumors of whether Amara has been nabbed by the police or has been surreptitiously taken away by the poro people.
Responding to why it had to be Amara, Chief Koroma said that it was as a result of an undertaken made by him and also customs and tradition demand that the former being his first son must be his successor “whether he likes it or not”.
Other sources spoken to said that prior to this latest attempt, other poro members including the society’s priest had also interrogated them and had also sent emissaries to neighboring villages in search of Amara. Asked whether Amara has been apprehended by the poro men, the source declined to answer.
This is not the first time people have disappeared just because of the activities of the feared poro society despite a January 2019 government ban on all initiation ceremonies conducted by traditional secret societies across the country. The ban came after the gruesome murder of two young men believed to be in their twenties in Sahn Malen, in the Pujehun district in the Southern province, where there was a land dispute between Community activists and the palm oil producing company – Socfin.
Amara’s father and some of his other extended family members are still worried that their loved one might be dead.