A birthday celebration on 30 November 2024, on Brima Lane, Old Road, in eastern Freetown, erupted into violence after a landlord alerted police and neighbors, triggering an anti-LGBTQ+ mob attack, witnesses said.
The celebrant, Amidu Frank Kabbia, has not been seen since the incident. According to an eyewitness, Kabbia had invited a friend, Mahmoud, along with two other men identified only as Muktar and Said. The group was drinking and playing music when the landlord knocked to complain about the noise. After Kabbia explained it was a birthday party, the landlord allegedly forced the door slightly open and saw two of the men naked on a couch.
The landlord reportedly told neighbors and police that Kabbia had rented the apartment as a single person but frequently hosted multiple men, whom he assumed were gay. A crowd quickly gathered outside, shouting anti-LGBTQ+ slurs and demanding the men be removed. Police arrived and broke down the door as the mob grew increasingly hostile.
Kabbia and Muktar escaped through a window, with Kabbia reportedly last seen fleeing in only boxer shorts. Mahmoud and Said were arrested. Police said the two men confessed to being gay and that Kabbia remains a fugitive, adding that an investigation has been launched.
Under Sierra Leone’s Offences Against the Person Act of 1861, “buggery” and “gross indecency” between men are punishable by up to life imprisonment. Human rights groups say these colonial-era laws fuel mob violence, blackmail, and extortion.
Internationally, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the United Nations Human Rights Council have urged states to protect individuals from violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Activists warn that criminalization and deep societal stigma leave LGBTQ+ people in Sierra Leone at constant risk.
Authorities continue to search for Kabbia, whose whereabouts remain unknown. The landlord has not publicly commented.
