- In Kailahun Two year-old Boy killed in ritual murder
The grandparents and the mother of Sao Bockarie aged 2 years
allegedly killed in a ritual murder in a Cocoa farm in Kanga
village in the Kissi Tongi Chiefdom Kailahun District are now in
custody as Police intensify search for the corpse.
(...)
According to reports the two suspects Jenneh Kamara the wife and
grandmother and Mr. Jusu Kamara the grandfather who are now in
police custody in Kailahun town have admitted killing the boy
after consulting a traditional herbalist who instructed them to
perform human sacrifice in the cocoa plantation to make it very
productive and make them very wealthy.
(...)
July 2009
- Ritual Murder Alleged At Moyamba
A six year old girl, Isata Kamara, was found floating in a
stream by Gbandahun village. Her pubic hair and vagina had been
removed. Her mother, Fatmata Deen, Adama Smart and a section
chief of the village, Mondeh Foday are currently helping police
with investigations.
(...)
Local Unit Commander J.M. Kargbo, said the three people could
not satisfactorily explain how the girl came to be killed.
August 28, 2009
- Police Investigating Ritual Killings
Sierra Leone police, in the provincial towns of Moyamba and
Kambia in the south and north of the country respectively, are
busy investigating two unexplained ritual murders. Police source
states that an unidentified corpse was discovered in Gbangbatoke,
lower Banta Chiefdom, Moyamba District while another corpse
identified as Tara Wurie was discovered at the back of a house
in Tombo Wala Village, Mambolo Chiefdom, in the Kambia District.
According to an investigating officer a resident of Tombo Wala
village, Alusine Turay reported that he discovered the corpse at
about 5am when he was heading for the village mosque for the
early morning (“suba”) prayers. In the Moyamba incident, several
human body parts were missing from the discovered corpse,
including the tongue, heart, left breast and sexual organ.
(...)
The issue of ritual murder does not seem to be new in this part
of the country, especially during elections. About a week ago
the corpse of a 42 year old woman presumed to have been gang
raped was discovered in Makeni town, north of the country close
to a popular palm wine drinking bar. Alhaji Tokowa in the Kenema
District in the early 1990s killed his niece, cutting off her
genital and other parts for a preparation of a charm that he
said would bring him good luck in his diamond mining venture.
Often during elections parents advice their children to watch
their steps as politicians would be in need of human parts
solely for rituals used as charm to enhance political success.
(...)
February 10, 2009
- 14 held for alleged ritual murder
Fourteen people, including several tribal chiefs,
have been arrested in connection with an alleged ritual murder
of a young woman in southern Sierra Leone, authorities said
Monday.
(...)
According to police, the body of a young woman was found last
week in Gbangbatoke, Moyamba District, in the south. The corpse
was missing its heart, tongue, breasts and sexual organs.
"We believe this is a ritual murder and we are investigating," a
senior police official linked with the probe told AFP.
Observers say ritual murders and cannibalism are rampant in the
West African country and usually occur before key elections.
Those who carry out the gruesome acts believe that killing their
victims, particularly virgins and children, will give them
mystical powers.
"Between 1992 to 2007 ritual murders became so rampant because
politicians interfered with investigations and prosecutions of
the crime," Resident Minister in charge of Southern Province
Musa Tarawalli said Monday.
(...)
Since the 1960s, several people have been sentenced and executed
for ritual murder and cannibalism.
January 20, 2009
- Sierra Leone: Twenty Year-Old Murdered
Police are investigating the brutal killing of a twenty year -old
girl Aminata Kai Conteh which took place on July 13 at a village
near Songo 30 miles from the capital Freetown.
According to police reports, a boy called Aruna went to
Aminata's residence at Newton 24 miles from Freetown and told
her that her grandmother, who lived near Songo, had bought five
jerry cans of palm oil for her. Aminata , who is a petty
business woman, left her residence and travelled with Aruna but
never returned home. Her dismembered corpse was discovered on
the outskirts of Maseilor Village in Songo on July 14. Her skull
was observed to be dented and the head had several machete
slashes. Aruna has not been apprehended for interrogation. He is
reported to be on the run.
Ritual murder has become prevalent in the country and the law
has been observed not to be proprerly enforced so as to minimise
the crime.
In a related incident, the mutilated corpse of a man believed to
be insane was found on the street a week ago at Mountain Cut in
the east of the capital Freetown. There have been calls for
police to intensify their investigation and bring culprits to
book when such crimes are committed. Many people now live in
perpetual fear.
"You do not whether you will be the next victim and there is no
guarantee that police will apprehend your killer after your
death", says Isatu Kamara a trader at Calabatown who witnessed
the horrible crime at Mountain Cut.
Source: The Independent (Freetown)
August 1, 2007 (original source no longer accessible)
- Freetown - A Sierra Leonean court sentenced a 70-year-old man to
death on Wednesday for the ritual murder of a seven-year-old boy
whose heart and other organs were removed.
September 11, 2002
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Memorandum to a cannibal
- Mercenary leader recalls horrific habits of Sierra Leone enemy
This report explores the rampant cannibalism in Sierra Leone the
mercenaries (=Sandline and Executive Outcomes) encountered while waging
war there (...).
CAPE TOWN, South Africa –"There is a lot of cannibalism in Sierra Leone,"
said Bert Sachse, a 34-year veteran of the South African special forces
and commander of the mercenary war during the mid-1990s in the troubled
West African nation.
"If you capture the enemy, you want to interrogate them. For the Sierra
Leone army, they wanted to eat the heart and or other vital organs of
their enemies. We would have to fly out the prisoners we wanted to
interrogate on the helicopters back to Freetown so they wouldn't be
eaten. The MI-17 would fly over and the Sierra Leone soldiers would look
up and say, 'There goes dinner.' They would look upset. In certain parts
of Sierra Leone cannibalism is rife."
Sandline and Executive Outcomes were the mercenary organizations,
located in South Africa and London, for whom Sachse and his men worked.
Another Sandline soldier interviewed by WorldNetDaily commented, "One
can only image the Sierra Leone soldiers eating the heart and other
organs of an RUF prisoner. I have a mental picture of a soldier holding
a heart in his mouth, and another eating a hand and Bert Sachse asking
them, 'How many times do we have to tell you not to eat the prisoners
before we interrogate them? Didn't you get the memo?'"
(...)
In the 1990s, America's agenda in Sierra Leone was to contain Charles
Taylor's influence and to keep the conflict from interfering with the
already volatile situation in Nigeria.
(...)
All of this occurred during the aforementioned RUF's horrendous "No
Living Thing" operation, in which the murder and cutting off of the
limbs of children was at its height. It lasted four months, and RUF
soldiers cut off the ears, arms, hands and feet of thousands. Many
children were killed, at least 5,000. Over 150,000 had no homes. About
four-fifths of Freetown's buildings were burned to the ground including,
hospitals, clinics, schools and churches.
(...)
It is hoped this report will help to bring out more of the truth about
the embattled history of Sierra Leone.
October 19, 2004
The lengthy report contains a wealth of information on this sad
episode of Sierra Leone's history (FvdK).
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