The “clique gangsterism”, breeding from the on going gangster culture, that sprouted after the decade long civil war in Sierra Leone, (23rd March, 1991-18th January, 2002).

A research conducted by Hurrarc’s Director of Eastern Schools in the Western Area (Freetown), Mr Sahr Bessebie.

Here comes another future social disaster for the Sierra Leone Nation, for the so called youths, who have amassed themselves into a violent grouping around the capital and the district headquarter towns called the Clique Gangs, are becoming a greater social problem, if remedial steps are not taken.
The Human Rights Respect Awareness Raising Campaigners are therefore calling upon the attentions of the Sierra Leone Government, especially the Youths Ministry and the State Stake Holders, to rescue the youths from plunging into this other face of violence, not to let it develop and get out of hands.
We decided to take up this decision to develop this report, through our Human Rights and Non Violent Campaigns around the Capital Freetown and the big towns in the interior, where these activities are rift.
It is now unfortunate that both male and female youths have been misled, diverted and deceived themselves by getting entangled in the use of violence and criminalities to survive, in what they call The Clique Gangs, “when there is no other means to survive“, as one of them rightfully said.
As the state and the world in general rely on them as the future edifice that will continue to develop the lives of the people, especially the School Going Secondary Youth, whose parents are now looking to them as the saviours from the abject poverty that they have gone through, in order to get them to Schools, as well as provide their needs at homes under all difficult circumstances, are getting the negative impacts as piercing as the bites of any poisonous reptile of regrets and disappointment .
The high confidence of the parents of these youth, have to some extent, been thrown into the darkness of a bleak future, as they have got themselves into a new form of drug addictions and other forms of delinquencies that often gave them, the fearless minds to carry out their violence to satisfy their feelings or their survivals, as it is common in all the schools sporting relationship as a result of the bad groups that they associate themselves with.
Most of these groups are emerging from the Secondary Schools, Colleges and Universities. Their leaders, especially the presidents, are called the Five Stars, coming from the said ‘’Grade -A’’ Secondary Schools, Colleges and University, are devoid of any focus towards the development of their fellows in the better direction, but instead using them as the sources of finance for the said prides and survivals of the Cliques and their Leaderships, who in turn give them violent protections and defense in times of attacks or confrontations from any of the similar Cliques within their communities or from another area within the Capital.
They call them ‘’THE FIVE STAR GENERALS’’, who are the embodiments of their commands and said security in any social or popular occasion.

To give some exemplary proves, there is the following to effect and proves;

In one of the Rap Competitions they got in the early months’ of the Year at Mountain Cut section of Freetown, where the various Cliques were supposed to perform, one after the other.
The first Clique that took the stage rained down abusive Languages on the others to an extent that the waiting Clique Member was too impatient to bear up the insult, (as one of them said to us), he got up and stabbed the speaker to Death.
In the case of this year’s School League, a lot of violence went on as a result of some of these cliques, commonly called, BLOOD ICE, BLOOD DRAIN, ARAB MONEY, BONE CRACKERS, BLACK STREET NIGGERS, BLACK WEATHER, POISON CLAN, THE BLACK TERROR UNITS, THE REAL GEES ETC.
In fact, some of the listed names above are the most notorious Cliques, some of which don’t even have vital focus, let alone productive and beneficial to neither themselves, nor the state in general, but constitutes an embodiment of problems.
Their main objective is just to make money a day, in whatever circumstance or by any means possible (Hook or Crook, as they commonly say).
According to our past and future studies, if this state of affairs continue to go unchecked and undismantled, it will result into a very big problem that may need a lot of resources and challenges to be quelled down, as it is in the case of the century old occultism, that has taken over the mindsets of our Pre and Post University Graduates, to the points of a violent situation, in which dometries were ravaged, School Materials Burnt, and fellow students injured.
Most of the sorts conducts and the street violence after sporting activities, are carried out by these Squads, Cliques or Gangs, led by secondary School Leaders, Colleges and University mentors.
In March, 2009 this situation ended into the death of one student, during the initiation torture called ceremony. The ban to this cultism in the University has resulted into an underground System, which has run down to the Secondary Schools and the Slums Areas. When it sprouts out completely, it may be compared to a volcano of Social problems.
Even the forces like the Police, are not only awared of these Gangs, but also worried because, they have constituted the Major Social Problems they have confronted, especially this year, in which their activities have started ending into fatality and injuries compounded with much destructions of property along the streets.
On the launching Ceremony of the HURRARC’S ‘’BRIDGING DIVIDES’’ on the 27th April, 2009, among the contributions, there was a similar one given by the Acting Assistance Superintendent and head of Police media, Mr. Ibrahim Samura. He concluded by saying that, groups and organizations like Hurrarc are the ones recognized by the police because, from its name, one can easily understand and appreciate it aims and objectives.
But as for others, there are those they cannot allow, some of those that named themselves ‘’blood label’’ and other Gang and cultic associated named.
I challenge anyone to do a visibility study in and around the Capital City of Freetown, you will see all sorts of names and posters, wall bills etc.

In case of any further Research on this subject, I am Available in the HURRARC Office in Freetown, on the following numbers: 00232-78-33-00-87 / 00232-78-69- 25- 25.