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Dawn-to-Dusk Curfew in Harper

The Analyst (Monrovia)
NEWS
January 24, 2005
Posted to the web January 24, 2005

-Ritual Murder Sparks Off Riot Again
The Government of Liberia has imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew in Harper, Maryland
County, following a tense situation in which angry protesters organized by
individuals believed to be ex-combatants stormed the Harper Police Station and
adopted three suspects implicated in a new wave of "ritualistic killings".
Justice Minister Kabineh Ja'neh, who disclosed this to The Analyst yesterday
evening after he returned to Monrovia from Harper, the provincial capital of
Maryland, said the curfew was imposed upon the orders of the power sharing
transitional Chairman Gyude Bryant based upon security advice.
This followed reports that an irate group of people had mobilized others to
move on the police station and adopt suspects held in connection with the
disappearance of three persons in the Pleebo area. .
He said angry mob "ransacked" the police station Saturday afternoon, broke into
the cells and "took away three guys," suspected of involvement in ritualistic
killing - a cult widely believed by practitioners to enhance their wealth and
political standing.
. The three men were arrested in Pleebo and surrounding towns and whisked off
to Harper to assist the police with their investigation into the disappearance
of three others.
At the Harper police headquarters, however, the irate crowd - in a desperate
attempt to seek instant justice - broke into the police cells and bundled away
the suspects.
"Two of the suspects were severely beaten and the other is at large", said the
Justice Minister.
The Liberian Attorney General did not give the names of the suspects nor those
that led the attack on the police station but said, "What is clear is that
there are people who have been identified as mobilizing people to get
involved." A detachment of the United Nations force in the area, especially the
Sector Four Commander based in Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County, along with the UN
civilian police unit, joined the government forces to calm the situation. They
have sent reinforcements to beef up the strength of the Senegalese troops in
the troubled area, according to Minister Ja'neh.
The Liberian government, he added, will be sending logistical support for the
police to help quell the rising situation.
When the three persons mysteriously disappeared, some residents launched a
massive search for the missing people. But they were later disillusioned when
it appeared that inhabitants of other neighboring villages could not help in
finding the missing people.
They reportedly issued an ultimatum that if the towns did not cooperate with
them in finding the people, they would move on the suspects at the police
station.
One of the two suspects that were beaten by the mob appeared to have confessed
to the police linking an unnamed principal suspect.
He is reported to have quoted the principal accused as saying that he saw the
"two men" on top of a tree in his dream.
For decades, Maryland County has been notorious for ritualistic killing. Last
year, the mutilated body of a woman was reportedly found abandoned by unknown
people believed to be ritual murderers.
It can be recalled that in the late 1970s, Allen Yancy and others were hung for
their involvement in the death of one Moses Tweh.
In the latest incident, there have been no reports that any of the bodies of
the two persons have been recovered even though they are presumed dead.
The irate mob were said to have declared no confidence in Liberia's judicial
system in Harper where there have not been magisterial and circuit courts since
the outbreak of the civil war 14 years ago.

   

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