Thumbnail: Mohamed Special Conteh has been working with the BBC since 2018 as an undercover journalist exposing the ills in his society; despite continual threats and the murder of a close relative, he continues to pursue justice..

Profile: Mohamed Special Conteh recently exposed ritual killings and the trade of human body parts in the north of Sierra Leone through his undercover journalism that captured the attention of the BBC Africa Eye Documentary titled “Money Rituals: Africa’s Deadliest Taboo”.

As part of his investigation, he exposed the daily exchange of human body parts for money by some top politicians and mega-business people. The investigation took a personal turn for Conteh when it was discovered that his 28-year-old cousin, Fatmata Conteh, was murdered in Makeni during the probe. Her body was found with several teeth missing, leading the community to suspect a ritual killing. No one has yet been arrested for the murder.

And it’s continually risky: “My team and I have been receiving threatening messages from individuals whose malevolent actions we have exposed,” says Conteh. “Some of these threats nearly cost us our lives.” Despite all these challenges, Conteh continues to expose corruption and ritual killings. His fight against social injustice remains unabated. Given that he and his team are risking their lives to expose these heinous practices in our society, he is frustrated by the lackluster attitude of the police’s failure to apprehend culprits: “Rather than pursuing those who have confessed to committing ritualistic killings, the police are questioning the authenticity of our report, which inadvertently enables those unscrupulous herbalists to evade capture and continue issuing death threats.”

In 2024, Conteh embarked on a mission to Mali to rescue Sierra Leonean women who had been trafficked and sold for sexual exploitation in remote gold mining areas. His tireless advocacy led to the safe return of these women when they eventually reunited with their families in Sierra Leone.