By Steven Ngaujah
Three people were wounded and at least seven houses burnt down in a communal violence in Kono District.
The incident which is under investigation by the Police was the result of a dispute over a piece of land between the people of Taama and Nyandeama villages.
According to residents of Nyandeama, youths of the neighboring village of Taama, armed with cutlasses, guns, sticks and other crude weapons, attacked their village in the morning hours of August 9, assaulting the inhabitants and destroying their houses.
The incident only came to the light recently when a Politico reporter visited the scene.
Disputes over land is a major issue of recent times in Kono, especially amongst mainly farmers. Several of these disputes have been settled, whilst many others are yet to be settled, leaving aggrieved communities to tend to take the law into their hands.
The villages involved in this latest dispute are located at Mofinkor Section in Soa Chiefdom which is located close to the border with neighboring Guinea.
Aiah Isiah Biango, Assistant Town Chief of Nyandeama, explained to Politico that in the early hours of the day of the violence, a lady who hailed from Taama and resident in Nyandeama by virtue of marriage suddenly packed her belongings to leave, prompting concerns to the villagers. Biango said when she was asked, the lady reported that some youths in Taama had asked her to leave before a pending assault on Nyandeama.
“Shortly after, the attackers struck,” said Chief Biango,
The chief said people were flogged openly and that at least one woman, a close relative of his, was raped.
“In few minutes these houses were demolished, and my brother's wife was openly raped by one of the men," he narrated.
According to Biango, the assailants threatened to kill anyone who attempted to flee.
"The men were just terrible and looking desperate in their actions,” he said.
Biango said, the attackers also carted away with foodstuff, clothing and many other valuable materials belonging to villagers.
According to sources, the two villages have been at each other’s throat for almost a decade now over the piece of land in contention.
According to the people, the issue went before the Paramount Chief who, after negotiations, passed a verdict. Both villages claimed that the verdict went in their favour.
Youth leader in Taama Village, Tamba Elie Kaingbanjah, denied all the allegations levied against his village. He claimed that they were the ones who were attacked and got injured when they called at Nyendeama Village with the intention of making inquiries about the alleged destruction of their farms in the disputed land.
Kaingbanjah said since the Paramount Chief had granted them ownership of the land, they had no intention of giving it up for anyone.
The police at the Tankoro Division in the district headquarters town of Koidu acknowledged receiving report on the matter and said they were investigating it.
Idrissa Conteh told Politico upon receipt of the report they deployed a team at the scene immediately. But they said they were yet to make any arrests.
Paramount Chief Emmanuel Torche Foryoh would not comment in detail when approached by Politico, except to condemn the violence.
Meanwhile, victims of the conflict are responding to treatment at the Koidu Government Hospital. Among them is the alleged raped woman.
And back at Nyendeama Village, it is like a ghost town.
The place is deserted. The few residents who remain in the village say many of the others have left either because they fear a recurrence of the violence, or because they have no place to stay. The houses that survived the arson had their roofs destroyed.
While appealing for the government to intervene and resolve the matter, Chief Biango appealed for support in the form of foodstuff since their food reserve has been destroyed.
Kumba Namisa, an elderly woman who is the traditional birth attendant in Nyandeyama, expressed surprised over the actions of their neighbors. She lamented how the invaders carted away with a box of money owned by a village savings group called Fiamabenja, containing Le11.5million. She also said that a facility that served as a clinic for the village was destroyed. She said the clinic serves over eight other villages which are several miles away from the nearest peripheral health unit.
“This is a grave loss to this village,” Namisa said.
Another elderly woman in her mid-seventy expressed shock at the sight of her daughter in-law been raped.
“I still cannot comprehend what triggered that. No body sleeps in this village since that day except me, because there is nowhere I can go to. As you can see, there is no food in this village,” she narrated.
“I last ate rice almost a week ago. I sustain myself with ordinary roasted and boiled banana. If we are not paid attention to here, it will be bad for our lives.''
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