BUCHANAN, Grand Bassa – Residents of communities in Buchanan have arrested over 25 young men and women who they believe are ‘zogos’ and turned them over to the police.

The term is used to refer to substance abusers who sometimes survive via petty crime or activities such as loading public transport cars.

The arrests took place on Tuesday in communities such as Moore Town, Sugar Cane Farm, Kilby Street, Bassa Town, and Atlantic Street.

Community dwellers, mostly dominated by commercial motorcyclists, said they have noticed an increased number of zogos in the city and expressed a need to help the police rid the city of these individuals.

Some Buchanan residents on motorbikes in search of ‘zogos.’ Photo: Sampson David

None of the individuals conducting citizens’ arrests were willing to speak to the press on record, but they were seen on motorbikes along the main streets of Buchanan hunting and arresting who they considered to be ‘zogos,’ substance abusers, and thieves.

Those arrested were brought to the police substation at the administrative building on Kilby and Roberts Streets for investigation and prosecution.

Those arrested were sent to cell immediately as they arrived. The withholding cell was filled as most of them were seen lying at the front of the cell under the custody of police and Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency officers.

The community members said they would continue their arrests as long as the number of zogos continue to increase in Buchanan.

Some residents said they were unhappy with the arrests, as they noted that their fellow community members were not authorized to do so.

Grand Bassa’s police chief superintendent, Sackor Freeman, appeared to be caught off guard by the activities.

“When we saw lots of community dwellers on motorbikes arresting zogos and drugs users, we decided to find out as to why they were doing so,” he said via a phone interview. “But we were told that in their communities they can’t sleep in the hands of rogues and drug users. The community said they know them in the communities so they decided to arrest them and bring them to the police station. But it is under control right now.”

He said most of the zogos were arrested in the graveyards and they had visible sores on their bodies as the result of a lack of proper care.

“I told my guys not to put those with sores in the same cells with those without sores. We are investigating them, and after that, we will take the necessary actions,” he said.

Some officials noted that arresting substance abusers was not the best way to deal with the problem.

The former commander of the Liberia Drugs Enforcement Agency’s detachment in Grand Bassa, Joseph Targedine, has called on the government many times before to establish a rehabilitation center in the county.

He said sending drugs users to jail would only contribute to an already overcrowded situation at prisons and will result in release without rehabilitation and a subsequent return to crime.

Featured photo by Sampson David