The family of Adiatu Yunus Bangura, a prominent grassroots politician and Zonal Chairlady of the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) in Thunder Hill community in the Western Area Urban District, is appealing for answers and international intervention after her mysterious disappearance in May 2025. Adiatu, known for her bold criticism of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), has been missing for over two months following repeated threats and attacks linked to her political affiliation.
According to her aged Aunt, Jane Bangura, the family last saw Adiatu in May this year, just days after their home was raided by unidentified men allegedly connected to pro-government operatives. “They beat up my grandchildren and demanded to know where she was hiding,” Jane recalled. “Since then, no one has seen or heard from her.” Adiatu had been caring for her three children and the four young children of her elder sister, Kuntumie Magdalena Bangura, who was brutally killed in 2024 during an earlier attack on their home. The attackers reportedly mistook Kuntumie for Adiatu.
Adiatu’s disappearance is the latest in a troubling pattern of violence against opposition supporters following the controversial June 2023 general elections. In the aftermath of the polls, numerous members of the APC reported being harassed, detained, and in some cases, physically assaulted by security forces or individuals believed to be linked to the SLPP. Several civil society organizations, including the National Election Watch (NEW) and international observers, raised red flags about the fairness and transparency of the elections.
The 2023 election, which returned President Julius Maada Bio to power, was marred by reports of restricted movement of election monitors, delayed result announcements, and alleged voter intimidation in strongholds of the opposition. Both the APC and NEW criticized the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ECSL) for failing to publish disaggregated results by polling station, a practice considered vital for transparency. While the ECSL declared Bio the winner with 56.17% of the vote, the APC and its candidate, Dr. Samura Kamara outright rejected the outcome, citing electoral fraud and lack of procedural credibility.
In the months that followed, opposition figures, especially women leaders like Adiatu, found themselves increasingly targeted. “She never stopped speaking up, even when it became dangerous,” a close friend of Adiatu told this reporter. “She organized women in the community and demanded better governance, especially after the hardship worsened post-election.” That courage, her family believes, may have cost her freedom or worse.
With no information about her whereabouts, the Bangura family now lives in fear and uncertainty. “My niece was the only one providing for us and for the children of her late sister,” said Jane, holding back tears. “Now the children don’t go to school. We barely eat. We want the world to know what is happening to us.”
She called on international human rights groups, the United Nations, and Sierra Leonean authorities to investigate the case and ensure the safety of political activists, regardless of their affiliations. “Whether she is alive or not, I want to know. I just want my niece,” she pleaded.
So far, there has been no official statement from the police or the government regarding Adiatu’s disappearance. Civil society and human rights groups have also remained relatively silent, despite mounting concerns over the shrinking space for dissent and political opposition in Sierra Leone.
