Foday Saybana Sankoh was the leader and founder of the Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...

 rebel group Revolutionary United Front

Revolutionary United Front

The Revolutionary United Front was a rebel army that fought a failed eleven-year war in Sierra Leone, starting in 1991 and ending in 2002. It later developed into a political party, which existed until 2007...

 (RUF) in the 11-year-long Sierra Leone Civil War

Sierra Leone Civil War

The Sierra Leone Civil War began on 23 March 1991 when the Revolutionary United Front , with support from the special forces of Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia , intervened in Sierra Leone in an attempt to overthrow the Joseph Momoh government...

, starting in 1991 and ending in 2002. An estimated 50,000 people were killed during the war, and over 500,000 people were displaced in neighboring countries.
Foday Sankoh was born on October 17, 1937, in the remote village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 of Masang Mayoso

Masang Mayoso

Masang Mayoso is a remote village in Tonkolili District in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. The population of the village is almost entirely inhabited by the Temne people and their language also called Temne is by far the most widely spoken language in the village...

, Tonkolili District

Tonkolili District

Tonkolili District is a district in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. Its capital and largest city is Magburaka. The other major towns include Mathora, Magbass, Yonibana and Mile 91...

 in the Northern Province

Northern Province, Sierra Leone

The Northern Province is one of the four provincial divisions of Sierra Leone. It comprises five Districts and covers an area of 35,936 km² and with a population of 1,718,240 . Its administrative and economic center is Makeni...

 of Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...

 to an ethnic Temne father and a Loko

Loko people

The Loko are one of the indigenous ethnic groups in Sierra Leone. They speak a Mande language that is also called Loko. The majority of the Loko people live in or around the capital city of Freetown and in the Northern Province of the country, particularly in Port Loko District. The Loko were among...

 mother.