SECRET SOCIETIES IN SIERRA LEONE
The formation and operations of Secret Societies in Africa especially Sierra Leone forms part of the cultural heritage. It is believed that Secret Societies serves as a channel through which our ancestors and predecessors communicate with the living, and so the sustenance of secret societies has become a necessity in Sierra Leone.
In modern day Sierra Leone, lots of secret societies are in operation. Major among these secret societies is the one known as the Orsupiorso Secret Society that is operating in every district in Sierra Leone. It was founded by the late Jonathan Showers commonly known as Pa Jonathan, a fisherman who had the vision while fishing along the Mambolo River in Kambia district, Northern Sierra Leone, some fifty years ago.
The main objective of this society was to acquire wealth and prevent early death, and it is only a male who has obtained the age of 18 years and above is eligible to become a member.
The Orsupiorso criteria states that before gaining membership, you should sacrifice a virgin, and initiation is at night during the dry season (between December and May), in an isolated area called Hillay (society bush) by members, and thereafter you take an oath reaffirming that you will keep the secret of the entire initiation ceremony.
The Orsupiorso Society is a generational organization that is passed down from father to son, and should never be allowed to end once one has become a member.
It is also a practice that, whenever a member dies his body must be kept for thirty days in the shrine before being handed over to the family for burial. And if any member chooses to abandon or rebel against the society the penalty is death.
The Orsupiorso has religious and civil practices with special rituals and language, and members of the Orsupiorso are easily identified by signs and symbols and marks inscribed on the skins of members. A special chanting is developed so that members could communicate among themselves without non members noticing.
The rendezvous is in the bush, at an enclosure, separated into apartments by mats, with no roof except the overhanging trees. All their ceremonies are performed within this enclosure.
There are three grades or levels in the Orsupiorso Society. The first one is for the chiefs and elders, the second for fetish priests, and the third for the rest. Each ceremony is presided over by a masked devil.
It is mandatory in the Orsupiorso society that when a member dies, his eldest son should succeed him and if that individual refuses to accept the society or escapes from the community that individual’s family members will be harassed until they produce him, even if it takes a hundred years.
Orsupiorso society normally starting their ceremony play at midnight unto the following morning on the first and last week of every month between December and May of every year.
If accidently a non-member go outside especially during the time Orsupiorso society is performing their ceremony that individual will lose his life which Orsupiorso members refer in their language as ‘egbo’ meaning the society devil has swallowed that person and nothing will come out of it.
As a result of this, several youths and religious believers who see the entire practices of Orsupiorso as evil and having been forced to join by their parents who are already members have no option but to flee from places where this society is practiced.
It could be recalled that during the just concluded 2012 Multi-tier Elections in Sierra Leone, there were certain areas known as strongholds of these Orsupiorso society prevented non-members who are politicians from vying for any political position in their area/community.
Orsupiorso also prevented journalists, civil society, and human rights activists who are non-members from performing their duties.
In modern day Sierra Leone, lots of secret societies are in operation. Major among these secret societies is the one known as the Orsupiorso Secret Society that is operating in every district in Sierra Leone. It was founded by the late Jonathan Showers commonly known as Pa Jonathan, a fisherman who had the vision while fishing along the Mambolo River in Kambia district, Northern Sierra Leone, some fifty years ago.
The main objective of this society was to acquire wealth and prevent early death, and it is only a male who has obtained the age of 18 years and above is eligible to become a member.
The Orsupiorso criteria states that before gaining membership, you should sacrifice a virgin, and initiation is at night during the dry season (between December and May), in an isolated area called Hillay (society bush) by members, and thereafter you take an oath reaffirming that you will keep the secret of the entire initiation ceremony.
The Orsupiorso Society is a generational organization that is passed down from father to son, and should never be allowed to end once one has become a member.
It is also a practice that, whenever a member dies his body must be kept for thirty days in the shrine before being handed over to the family for burial. And if any member chooses to abandon or rebel against the society the penalty is death.
The Orsupiorso has religious and civil practices with special rituals and language, and members of the Orsupiorso are easily identified by signs and symbols and marks inscribed on the skins of members. A special chanting is developed so that members could communicate among themselves without non members noticing.
The rendezvous is in the bush, at an enclosure, separated into apartments by mats, with no roof except the overhanging trees. All their ceremonies are performed within this enclosure.
There are three grades or levels in the Orsupiorso Society. The first one is for the chiefs and elders, the second for fetish priests, and the third for the rest. Each ceremony is presided over by a masked devil.
It is mandatory in the Orsupiorso society that when a member dies, his eldest son should succeed him and if that individual refuses to accept the society or escapes from the community that individual’s family members will be harassed until they produce him, even if it takes a hundred years.
Orsupiorso society normally starting their ceremony play at midnight unto the following morning on the first and last week of every month between December and May of every year.
If accidently a non-member go outside especially during the time Orsupiorso society is performing their ceremony that individual will lose his life which Orsupiorso members refer in their language as ‘egbo’ meaning the society devil has swallowed that person and nothing will come out of it.
As a result of this, several youths and religious believers who see the entire practices of Orsupiorso as evil and having been forced to join by their parents who are already members have no option but to flee from places where this society is practiced.
It could be recalled that during the just concluded 2012 Multi-tier Elections in Sierra Leone, there were certain areas known as strongholds of these Orsupiorso society prevented non-members who are politicians from vying for any political position in their area/community.
Orsupiorso also prevented journalists, civil society, and human rights activists who are non-members from performing their duties.
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