By Musa Koroma
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — The case of Ibrahim Jalloh, a man once caught in the storm of Sierra Leone’s political unrest, has grown into one of the most frightening and unresolved manhunts in the country’s recent history. Nearly three years after the August 10, 2022 protests, his whereabouts remain unknown, while the pressure on his family and community has only intensified.
The chain of events began on August 10, 2022, when mass demonstrations erupted in Freetown and other parts of the country over the rising cost of living and growing anger at the SLPP-led government. Protesters clashed with security forces, leaving police officers and civilians dead. Witnesses reported that during the chaos at Portee Junction, Jalloh, a resident of Calaba Town, was spotted attempting to intervene in a confrontation between protesters and a police officer. Instead of diffusing the situation, he became a target. He was beaten, chased, and barely managed to escape as angry youths turned on him.
Fearing for his life, Jalloh went into hiding. For years, there were no signs of him. But in September 2023, he briefly resurfaced. Believing the dust from the August incident had settled, he appeared around a scheduled anti-government demonstration. That decision nearly cost him his freedom again. As security tightened around the planned protest, he was reportedly seen by several witnesses but managed to vanish before being apprehended.
That sighting reignited suspicions and anger. By early 2024, matters took a darker turn. Unknown attackers targeted his family, setting fire to the home of his uncle in a pre-dawn arson attack in Makeni. Neighbours described the blaze as deliberate, a warning meant to punish his relatives for his continued absence. The family was forced into hiding, living in fear of further reprisals.
The pressure escalated again in 2025, when the Tripartite Committee announced the release of detainees linked to the August 2022 protest. While dozens of names appeared on the list, Ibrahim Jalloh’s did not. Not because he had been detained — he had been on the run since that fateful August — but because his absence from the release list was interpreted as confirmation that he remained a fugitive. The omission has made the situation even more alarming. For the authorities, Jalloh’s case is now more serious than ever.
Police and government sources say he is under “deep search,” with checkpoints, surveillance, and intelligence networks monitoring suspected contacts. Security officials warn that anyone aiding him will face severe consequences. Civil society groups have raised concerns that the case is being used to intimidate opposition supporters and silence dissent, but the government insists the search is a matter of national security.
Today, Jalloh’s fate hangs in the balance. His family bears the scars of intimidation, his community lives under suspicion, and his name has become synonymous with the risks of standing at the crossroads of politics and protest in Sierra Leone. His disappearance has grown from a moment of chaos in 2022 into a chilling saga of fear, fire, and an unending hunt — with no clear end in sight.
