Relatives of Massacred Victims in Liberia Call for Swift Action

Relatives of the 13 people massacred over the weekend on the bank of the Farmington River on the border between Margibi and Grand Bassa Counties by unknown assailants Thursday stormed the justice ministry in Monrovia to request government’s swift intervention to bring the perpetrators of the massacre to justice.

The family members mounted road blocks in front of the justice ministry on Ashmun Street in central Monrovia, causing traffic hold-ups for several hours.

Police sources told reporters Thursday that the bodies of 14 contractors who were brutally murdered, have so far been recovered from the Farmington River about 55 kilometers east of Monrovia.

A survivor, Sampson Vincent, told reporters in Monrovia that more bodies could be buried in the river.

According to sources at the John F. Kenedy Memorial Hospital where the 14 bodies have been deposited, some of the bodies recovered from the river had their eyes plucked out, while the killers shoved sticks into the mouths of some of them.

Meanwhile, the Liberian government has expressed concern about the killings, saying it takes seriously the loss of innocent lives, and that government was moving “vigorously to apprehend perpetrators of this heinous crime”.

Justice Minister Counselor Philip Z. Banks has ordered the police to “employ maximum strength” to deal with those involved in the violence.

He disclosed that fourteen persons have been arrested by a team of prosecutors dispatched to the area to bring the perpetrators to justice.

An estimated 45 contractors hired by commerce official Charles Bennie, were working on land which is also being claimed by Margibi County Senator Roland Kaine, when they came under attack by unknown assailants armed with AK-47 rifles, Single barrel shotguns and cutlasses.

Land disputes are posing a serious threat to the fragile peace in post-war Liberia. About two months ago, a bloody land dispute in southeastern Maryland County left two persons dead and an estimated 15 others seriously wounded.

Source African Press Agency

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