PAYNESVILLE, Montserrado – A mother of three accident victims waged a media campaign against the deputy justice minister for codification who she says abandoned her children after hitting them with his car. Now, Nyenati Tuan is defending himself and denies ever abandoning the victims of a March 1 motor accident.

While driving in his assigned vehicle, police say Tuan hit the back of a motorcycle carrying three girls on their way from the Winners’ Chapel church on GSA Road in Paynesville. The accident led to a minor injury to the youngest, five-year-old Anointed, and also broke the right legs of the other two, 13-year-old Angel and 10-year-old Christina.

Following its investigation, the accident investigation department of the Liberia National Police found that Tuan was wrong and charged him with failure to yield the right of way in addition to reckless driving. But the minister, who is also a lawyer, rejected the decision and requested to go to court.

Earlier this month, the children’s mother, Jamesetta Taylor, took her case to the public and gave media interviews calling for justice. Taylor alleged that the minister had taken no responsibility or shown any concern for the wellbeing of her children since the accident occurred. She also claimed that the deputy minister had refused to take the children in his vehicle to the hospital immediately after the accident, as he did not want blood stains in his car.

Instead, Taylor said a nearby good Samaritan, who she has not named, offered to have her brother take the two older children while riding in Tuan’s car with the youngest injured child for fear that the deputy minister would escape.

Upon further scrutiny, however, Taylor’s story does not hold, as Timothy Morris, who was driving the motorcycle carrying the children when the accident occurred, had told police that it was Tuan who took him and the children to the ELWA Medical Center after the accident and immediately contacted the police.

“As a result of [the] hitting, I lost control and fell on the opposite lane with the three female children, and we all got wounded. Therefore, he took all of us to the ELWA Hospital for treatment and sent for the police officer,” Morris said in his statement.

Bob Milton, the police officer who started the investigation, also confirmed via phone that Tuan first contacted the police about the accident and called for an investigation.

While the deputy justice minister told The Bush Chicken he could not comment on the case, he noted that he had requested to take the children to the ELWA Medical Center and immediately contacted the police accident investigation department. He added that he has also provided more than US$800 to the family.

Tuan claimed that he provided US$60 and L$10,000 (US$50.62) on the day of the accident to Taylor’s family and US$300 the next day (March 2) for the children’s treatment. He said he again provided US$200 each on two separate occasions.

Tuan also told The Bush Children that he has since paid several visits to the children at the ELWA hospital and the family’s residence. The relationship between him, his wife, and Taylor had been cordial until recently when Taylor decided to launch a smear campaign and make additional demands, Tuan said.

On March 4, Tuan said his wife even took Taylor out to shop at a supermarket in Monrovia. He also noted that he had offered to have the children further treated by the country’s most prominent bone specialist, Dr. Robert Kpoto. However, Tuan said Taylor and her husband have not yet taken up the offer.

Meanwhile, Taylor insists that Tuan is not telling the truth and asks him to provide receipts proving he had paid for the children’s medical bills or provided money to the family. Tuan agreed that he did not ask the family for receipts when he gave them the cash. Additionally, he was not the one who paid the children’s bills directly at the hospital.

Taylor also denied that Tuan had ever visited the children during their stay at the hospital, claiming that the only times she had seen him were at the police station in Paynesville, the police headquarters, and at the Monrovia Traffic Court. However, a staff member at the ELWA Hospital who wished to not be identified acknowledged that Tuan had visited the children.

As for the shopping trip on her birthday, Taylor disputes this. However, even as Taylor has denied all of Tuan’s claims, the deputy minister’s statements appear to have more grounding, as they are backed up by multiple other accounts and witnesses. The parties will continue to appear at the Monrovia Traffic Court until the matter is resolved.

Featured photo courtesy of Jamesetta Taylor