Fendall, Montserrado County – Some 20, 000 residents of Fendall, Montserrado County who are displaced as a result of a demolition exercise carried out by the University of Liberia early this year, have termed the action by the government to demolish their homes without any compensation as total wickedness.
Report by Kennedy L. Yangian – [email protected]
They made the assertion on Friday when human rights advocate, Atty. Samuel K. Woods paid a visit to the demolition site based on an invitation extended him by the homeless residents.
David Dennis, an agriculturalist was among the 20,000 residents whose village, Gaynah Town, was bulldozed during the April 19, 2016 demolition. Sitting in a makeshift structure with no door, Dennis said he prefers death to living now because his life has become hopeless.
He stated that the Fendall land was negotiated by the late President William R. Tolbert from the people of Fendall in 1975 to build the University of Liberia and it was agreed upon by residents that the University of Liberia occupies portion of the land while they occupy the rest but surprisingly the University of Liberia is claiming the entire land.
“We gave the land to the government without asking for anything because we were afraid and can’t fight government but the action taken against us is total wickedness,” said the 84-year-old Dennis as he sobbed, tears dropping from his aged eyes.
Oldman Dennis says that besides his village being destroyed, he lost his 35-year-old son Dixon Dennis who was killed by police officers during the demolition exercise when he resisted the demolition of their village.
Milton Karpo, the man claiming to be the land owner of Fendall land, said that he and his family owned more than 200 acres of land on where the University of Liberia was built but was affected by the demolition exercise when his village was also bulldozed on that fateful April 19, 2016.
“I lost my wife and son and one week after their burial the demolition took place and their graves were burst opened” said Karpo.
At the end of the visit, Atty. Woods told FrontPageAfrica that he was deeply shocked by the development that took place in Fendall and that government is an agency that should seek the welfare of its citizens, and not the inhumanity to the people of Fendell.
Atty. Woods says after his visit he was going to contact the relevant agencies of government about the plight of the residents of Fendall.
“Let us agree that the Fendall land belongs to government but humanity dictates and that these people too have something too to offer,” said Atty. Woods.
Journalist John Kollie, producer of the radio program the dialogue who was also part of the visit expressed dismay over government’s action against the demolition of homes without compensation, describing the action as “outrageous inhumanity.”
According to the affected residents of Fendall, the demolition exercise was selective because the government failed to demolish the Life Water structure in the area because it is a foreign-owned business.
Effort to get a comment from the authority of University of Liberia (UL) about the ownership of the land proved futile though, UL Vice President for Administration Weade Kobba Wureh told FrontPageAfrica that the UL owns the land as it was bought in 1962.