TUBMANBURG, Bomi County – Several persons have sustained injuries when supporters of senatorial candidates Mr. Alex Tyler and Representative Edwin Melvin Snowe engaged into a violent clash in Tubmanburg, the capital of Bomi County.
Mr. Tyler is the former Speaker of the House of Representatives of the 53rd National Legislature, and lawmaker Snowe is representing the people of electoral district # 1 in Bomi in the 54th National Legislature.
Both men have been certified by the National Elections Commission to contest the December 8, 2020 senatorial elections in the county.
Mr. Tyler is the candidate of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), while Representative Snowe is contesting as an independent candidate.
The violent clash between supporters of the two candidates occurred during the early evening hours of Monday.
According to eyewitnesses, the incident occurred when Representative Snowe had gone to meet with his supporters at his political office, located opposite Janjan Base, a local business center and intellectual forum, owned by Tubmanburg City Mayor, Mr. Obediah Varney.
Mr. Varney is supporting the senatorial bid of former House Speaker Tyler. He came second to Representative Snowe in the 2017 general and presidential elections.
Mr. Varney accumulated 1,868 votes or 11.8% of the total number of valid votes cast, while his victor, Rep. Snowe obtained 10,711 votes or 67.4%.
Supporters of Representative Snowe had gathered at his political office in the county to welcome him from Monrovia at the same time that some supporters of Mr. Tyler had gathered at Mr. Varney’s business center, where they normally dance to the campaign songs of their candidate.
The business center is located right opposite Representative Snowe’s political office in Tubmanburg.
Since the commencement of political rallies and campaign activities, Mayor Varney has been engaged into mounting his PA system at his business center to rally votes for Mr. Tyler.
The violent clash erupted when Representative Snowe’s military brigade, who were dressed in black trouser, t-shirt, khaki jacket and black beret riding in a white pickup, allegedly threw a sachet of water on some supporters of Mr. Tyler, who had gathered at the business center and intellectual forum.
The brigade is headed by one “Bin Laden”, Melvin Garwudeh, and Musa Dukuly.
Following the incident, an unidentified supporter of Mr. Tyler later left the business center for Representative Snowe’s office in a bid to calm the situation, which later escalated the violence.
Minutes later, rival supporters of the two candidates engaged into the throwing of stones and other deadly objects, wounding one another in the process.
The incident led to the vandalizing and looting of the Janjan Base Business Center in Tubmanburg.
Speaking in an interview with FrontPageAfrica early Tuesday morning, Tubmanburg City Mayor, Mr. Obediah Varney, pointed out that his team decided to avoid the playing of Tyler’s campaign songs following the arrival of Representative Snowe at his political office opposite his business center.
He disclosed that the decision taken was intended to avoid tension or the eruption of violence between rival supporters.
He denied reports that his business center is a hot spot for the trading of narcotics and other illicit substances, adding that, “I have been doing business over there since 2005”.
Mr. Varney claimed that his goods including used clothes, and others were allegedly looted by unknown persons during the incident.
“My team and I are supporting Hon. Alex Tyler; they said since we are supporting Hon. Tyler, they will destroy my place. I told my guys not to play music and we should remain quiet”.
“Our side has been destroyed and Hon. Snowe’s side, everything is in tight. His car is parking there in tight. The incident was pre-calculated by Hon. Snowe”.
Mr. Varney claimed that the photos posted on the social media by Representative Snowe were photographs taken after several persons got injured in an accident while riding commercial motorcycles in Clay, Bomi County.
He further alleged that the motorcyclists had gone to escort Representative Snowe to Tubmaburg, along with other passengers when the accident occurred.
“They were playing style on the motorbikes and they had accident at Clay. Those were the photos that were posted”.
When contacted, Representative Snowe refused to respond to text messages and phone calls.
Meanwhile, police assigned in Bomi County have launched an investigation into the violent incident. Investigation continues…