By Fatmata Jengbe
It was indeed a sombre night in the West African capital city of Freetown, Sierra Leone when residents of the New England Community were rudely taken aback by loud human voices chanting incomprehensible slogans only to decipher the words “we want Samson dead or alive”. As a journalist with a very curious mind there was the immediate longing to really know what is actually going on and so I took the bold step and ventured out towards a small crowd from which the slogans were coming from.
What I set eyes on sent cold shivers down my spine. Half of the group of irate youths were holding on to machetes, knives, broken bottles, some smoking marijuana all seem to be intoxicated and wild.
Managing to draw one of them aside and after applying some imbibed journalistic skills, I got her talking. She narrated that Samson Coker was the erstwhile Area Secretary General of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) and he was a very active member who also doubled as the Chairperson of Arie Wutehteh, a mask devil said to be the SLPP mask devil, that is sometimes out with its members on public holidays or when the political party has a big social gathering.
“We used to hold him in high esteem not until he proved otherwise. Whilst we were celebrating the country’s 55th Independence Anniversary at our party’s headquarter on Wallace Johnson Street in downtown Freetown an altercation ensued. There was a ban that no mask devil should come out but Samson and some other members bulldozed and got Arie Wuteh out in the open. A fracas then took place and during that point, Alusine Turay, who is one of our strong member, brother and friend, was stabbed to death. We all believe that it is Samson Coker who killed him,” she explained with tears rolling down her cheeks while smoking a wrapped parcel of marijuana.
“Since them it has been the general belief among the New England youth that it was Samson Coker who killed him which is why we are bent on revenge and we will not rest until we get justice,” she stated with a sinister look, brandishing one of the machetes .
After searching for Samson for quite some time without laying hands on him they then embarked on attacking some nearby houses, indiscriminately looting and it was later reported that an 18 year old girl was raped.
Such has been the level of violence among young people in the country to such an extent that they are sometimes overzealous to take the law into their own hands and by the time the Sierra Leone Police descend on such crime scenes much havoc would have been caused to life and property.
What is clear in this case is that the life of Samson Coker is presently hanging on a balance. Though it is the SLPP that is in State Governance at the moment it was expected that Samson will be protected but that has not been the case. From what this medium gathered, his immediate family members have been receiving death threats as an ultimatum for the whereabouts of Samson who, after confirmations, is said to be on the run.
Some have interpreted the untoward behaviours of certain young people in a country, where youth unemployment is high, giving rise to a lot of societal ills, as politically charged. These vulnerable youths are most times used as political pawns by elderly politicians during electioneering periods to intimidate and perpetrate violence against perceived opponents using all sort of uncouth mannerisms. Outbursts of political violence occur during the pre-election, election and post-election periods sometimes leading to dire consequences.
It is yet to be medically proven whether it was Samson Coker who killed Alusine. However, it is certain that whenever Samson would surface and get nearer to the irate youths at New England he will definitely heave his last breath.
Published on the 4th December 2019
