By Thaimu T.Kamara
Yenga, a remote border village nestled in Kissi Teng Chiefdom, Kailahun District, sits just beyond the Moa/Makona River—the natural boundary dividing Sierra Leone and Guinea. Home predominantly to the Kissi people of Sierra Leone, Yenga has long been a symbol of cross-border tensions and unresolved territorial disputes.
During Sierra Leone’s brutal civil war, Guinean troops entered the country to assist in restoring order. In the process, they occupied Yenga, and despite various diplomatic negotiations, the region was only officially demilitarized in 2012. Yet, in a troubling resurgence of conflict, residents say that Yenga is once again under foreign control.
In late April 2025, villagers reported what they described as a forceful and unlawful occupation by forces loyal to Guinean leader Mamadi Doumbouya. The incursion triggered a wave of panic and displacement, with the majority of residents fleeing to Koindu, the chiefdom headquarters. A handful of villagers initially chose to remain behind, hoping to leave the following day but were later blocked from doing so.
Among those displaced is 62-year-old Finda Fallah, who spoke emotionally in her native Kissi dialect about the hardships she endured before being forced out.they banned us from farming and going about our normal lives, she said,our food ran out quickly We weren’t even allowed to go to Koindu or Nogoa to buy anything.
Finda explained that residents initially managed to send a young girl through bush paths to fetch food supplies from Koindu. However, once the occupying forces discovered the effort, they tightened surveillance in the swamps and forested routes, completely cutting off any movement in or out of the village.
When I had nothing left to eat, I decided I had to leave no matter the risk, she recounted. At the checkpoint, I told them plainly, I’m sick. There is no food, no medicine. I’m leaving today. I will not come back. Kill me if you want. Because of her age, she said, they eventually let her pass.
Now safe in Koindu, Finda revealed that only four Sierra Leonean residents remain in Yenga and they, too, wish to leave, but are being held against their will. She made a heartfelt appeal to the Government of Sierra Leone please help us return to our village or, if that is not possible now, find a place for us to stay temporarily here in Koindu.”
Sahr Nyuma, another displaced resident, also shared his experiences. He praised President Julius Maada Bio for providing emergency food supplies to affected families, each of the forty family heads from Yenga received five 50-kg bags of rice, and the 16 family heads from Yaladu got one 50-kg bag each,” he noted. Displaced families from all seven affected villages received their share, and some rice was stored at the Koindu Police Station for future distribution.
However, Nyuma also expressed concern over the lack of complementary food items. Rice alone is not enough. We have no condiments, and life here in Koindu is difficult, he said. We’re living in overcrowded homes with host families. We need the government to set up proper camps for us.
He concluded with a call to action for humanitarian organizations to step in and provide relief to the displaced families, many of whom are still grappling with trauma, uncertainty, and inadequate living conditions.
As the standoff in Yenga continues, displaced citizens remain hopeful that the Government of Sierra Leone, alongside regional and international partners, will urgently address this growing humanitarian and territorial crisis.
Copy right –Printed in the Expo Times News on Monday, May 26TH, 2025 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)
