Police Officer Engages In Gross Human Rights Violation

The police in Bong County has engaged into gross human rights violation in the pursue to take the fight to alleged criminals and armed robbers in Gbarnga and its surrounding, fighting them in banks and other financial institutions in the county and succeeded in repelling the robbers, who vacated the county for a while. But the robbers have now changed their mode of operation and are raiding houses across the metropolis with impunity and smiling home with their loot. Robbers now target and raid residential houses, and snatch cars at will. They raid homes and leave tears and sorrow behind. In most cases, before the police get to the scene, they are already gone with their loot, which include cash, cell phones, cars and jewelry among others.

The resurgence of the armed robbers comes less than five months after the Government of Liberia dedicated the Gbarnga Regional Hub to help combat crime. Worried by the spate of robbery, especially ahead of Liberia’s Independence Day celebrations on July 26, the lawmaker of electoral district #3, George Sylvester Mulbah, Tuesday convened an emergency meeting with members of the Bong County police detachment to address the thorny issue in finding ways to salvage it.

Two days ago, around 11.00 p.m. at Phebe parking, robbers raided and almost killed a man and his family when they returned from a church crusade. As the victim was about to open the gate to his apartment, a gang of robbers suddenly appeared and shot at the man. He was lucky, the bullet missed him.

An eyewitness said the robbers shot and ordered their victim to hand over his car keys. In the confusion, he gave the robbers the keys to the gate. The robbers could not open the car’s door with the gate key, and the victim waited for death. He was again lucky because just then another would-be victim drove into the street, which is close. The robbers wasted no time as they ordered the resident out of the vehicle and fled the scene in his car.

So, as one resident had a close shave with death and lost valuables, the other lost his vehicle to the marauders. One week ago on the Gbarnga-Ganta highway, armed robbers snatched about LD$ 1 million from a businessman and shot him one time in both legs and body. The two-man gang operated on an unregistered motorcycle.

During the incident, it was gathered that the commercial motorcyclist, also known as Pehn-Pehn, who was taking the businessman to his destination, was also shot in the left leg. The robbers sped off with the money. An eyewitness account had it that the victim, simply identified as S.K., a resident of Belefania, Zota District, Bong County, had dropped off the motorbike and was paying his fare when the robbers suddenly emerged from nowhere.

One of them jumped down from the motorbike, walked to the victim, snatched the bag containing the money, then shot the victim. Thereafter, the robbers shot into the air before making good their escape. It was believed that the robbers trailed the victim, from the bank in Gbarnga where he withdrew the money, to Kpen in Nimba County where they attacked him. Both the businessman and the Pehn-Pehn rider were immediately rushed to a nearby private clinic.

After the meeting, the Deputy Police Commander for Bong, Lasanah Conneh, assured residents that measures had been put in place to ensure safety of lives and property during the independence month. He stated that the police had come out with a program of action, just as it did last year to ensure safety of lives and properties during the period.

‘We want to enjoin Bongese to continue to support and collaborate with security agents. That is the essence of community policing. All hands must be on deck to ensure the safety of all. It takes two to tango. You must furnish us with details of information about suspected criminals in your locality to enable us to act proactively,’ he told citizens.

Continuing, he added: ‘We can’t wait until criminals have operated before crying out. Let us know before they carry out their operations. We want to pick them up. That is the essence of intelligence policing and pro-active policing.’

He advised those who park their cars at public motor parks, clubs and other public places to apply additional security measures such as locating a reliable trucking company to install a tracking system in the vehicles which would assist the police to track such a vehicle if stolen.

Commenting on the matter, Rep. Mulbah declared that crime is an unfortunate occurrence globally, which has no boundaries. ‘If there is crime in anywhere in the world, it affects other parts as well. So it is in our enlightened interest to fight crime,’ the Bong lawmaker averred.

The Lawmaker pointed out that everyone is a stakeholder in the issue of security, adding ‘a Gbarnga resident must be vigilant at all times, especially during the coming festive season, and report any suspicious movements to the security agencies.’

Civil Society actors in the county had said if the battle against crime must be won in this period, the onus rests on the county leadership to engage pro-active measures by adopting grassroots community policing. By this the various Community Development Associations are used to survey their environment because they know where the robbers live.

#remoteteam