LUGBEYEE, Nimba – The Liberia National Police has charged seven suspects for their alleged involvement in an attack on officers of the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency in a town 17 km away from Yekepa.
The suspects include the town chief of Lugbeyee, Peter Seabo. Six others, including Leroy Flomo, Saye Gehwee, Martin Tokpa, Abraham Kergay, Bestman Paye, and Clarence Tokpah, were charged with aggravated assault, sexual assault, criminal mischief, riot, failure to disperse, theft of property, and felonious restraint. They were accused of committing the crimes during a violent incident on July 30 in which the personal belongings of the officers were also destroyed.
The Nimba detachment of the LDEA alleged that Lugbeyee residents were instructed by their chief to attack its officers who had gone to investigate an earlier complaint of officers assigned in the town being threatened.
According to the report, LDEA officers had an initial altercation with residents on July 29. Headed by the agency’s Nimba chief of operations, Bill M. Cooper, officers had gone to Lugbeyee to investigate the original dispute. However, this prompted a retaliatory attack by the townspeople.
The July 29 dispute came after officers rescued a man from being attacked by a mob of angry women who had accused him of attempted rape. The women threatened to kill the accused, only identified as Melvin. After the few officers in the town rescued the man, this angered the town’s residents, and they threatened to attack the officers for interfering in the matter.
Fearing the situation could get out of hand, the officers left the town and went to Yekepa to inform their bosses about the unfolding crisis.
Based on the report, Cooper led a team to Lugbeyee on July 30 to investigate the conflict. The LDEA complaint filed with the police stated that 18 officers were beaten, and four of them were physically injured, resulting in internal bleeding.
The report also said a female officer was stripped naked and taken in the bush by some men. She later managed to escape, leaving behind her clothes and personal belongings.
The officers who were attacked, including those who sustained severe wounds, fled to the nearby bushes, where they spent the night and managed to get to Yekepa the following day, the report said. They later sought treatment at the ArcelorMittal Hospital in Yekepa.
Commander Emmanuel Gruasie of the Liberia National Police said the complaint filed by the LDEA, supporting video footage, and accounts provided by an anonymous witness led to the arrest of the seven suspects.
Featured photo by Jerry Myers
