Over land dispute…

Land owner’s life in danger

By Sorie Kamara

A tragic land dispute at the Masantigie village in the Western Area Rural District is reported to have culminated into dreadful violence. Muctaru Barrie, who, before travelling abroad had acquired two (2) plots of land situates at the Masantigie village, Western Area Rural District. Muctaru, reportedly being the rightful owner of the land was undeterred with contention for title with some powerful secret society members and traditional local youths of the community.

Abdulai Barrie, the Junior brother and caretaker of Muctaru Barrie’s land project routinely visits the land. It was during one of such visits that some unidentified youths warned him to keep off from the said land claiming that it belongs to the “Obasai Hunting Society’’ a traditional secret society operating in the Masantigie community. However, Abdulai Barrie sometimes on the 16th January, 2026, while working on the land, he was confronted and violently attacked by some irate youths brandishing traditional hunting rifles, machetes and other crude weapons. He was mercilessly beating, allegedly stabbed and wounded by the marauding attackers demanding that he produced Muctaru Barrie, the owner of the land who was their prime target.

According to one eyewitness who pleaded anonymity for fear of reprisal, he stated that the youths who violently attacked Abdulai Barrie with severe stab wounds on his neck and the lower abdomen leaving him to die were members of the Obasai Hunting Society. The eyewitness also stated that the angry mob went ahead to vandalize thousands of Leones worth of property belonging to Mactaru Barrie, having leant that Muctaru Barrie had since travelled overseas. They then issued a chilling threat ‘‘If they found any of Barrie’s agents or privies on the land that will be the end of their lives’’ and further warned not only to track and locate Muctaru Barrie but to maim and mutilate his body as a warning to others not to challenge the secret society over land matters.

The Masantigie community area has over the years been notoriously prone to land disputes culminating in the deaths of many people. The seeming threats of violence for land is very real especially when it relates to communal/secret society members.

The local police in the area informed this medium that the secret society members are demanding the release of their colleagues or risk further attacks.

In the wake of the attacks the community elders expressed shock and anger and called for dialogue and peaceful settlement of land disputes. They also called for increased police presence and vigilance to protect vulnerable people from criminal land grabbers. Reports suggests there have been calls for the perpetrators to be arrested and brought to book as human rights organizations are also monitoring the situation closely underscoring the need to address the sources of land disputes to ensure decorum for everyone.

According to community sources, the life of Muctaru Barrie is undoubtedly in danger if he attempts to return back to the community or the country, as the angry society youths have vowed to harm him if spotted.