MATAMBO, Cape Mount – Criminals have attacked security guards working for the Sime Darby Oil Palm Plantation, leaving one severely injured.

Zinnah Cassell, the manager of Radio Bomi in Tubmanburg, reported to The Bush Chicken that four security guards were attacked on Tuesday while on a regular patrol around the plantation. The guards were apparently attacked by individuals who had gone to steal some of the plantation’s crops. Cassell said one of the security guards, the 32-year-old Anthony Tamba, was severely beaten and injured by the criminals.

“He is now receiving treatment at the Bomi Estate Clinic on the plantation,” Cassell said.

He noted that palm theft has been happening at an alarming rate on the plantation, as those involved in the act even operate their own palm mills in the nearby bushes and they even process stolen palm fruit bunches to sell.

Cassell said the company’s guards do not carry any weapons to deter criminals. The criminals, however, were armed with cutlasses.

The Bush Chicken did not get the Liberia National Police to comment on the matter, but Police Spokesperson Moses Carter had reported an incident of another guard being shot by criminals on the plantation in late July.

In 2009, Sime Darby and the government signed a 63-year concession agreement to develop 220,000 hectares of land with oil palm and rubber.

Featured photo courtesy of Sime Darby Oil Plantation