MONROVIA – Rev. Prince Y. Johnson, a former notorious warlord with no regrets for his actions, always takes solace in the pulpit – using it to either justify some of the atrocities of the heinous war or deny some war crimes attributed to him.
After his outburst last Thursday during the session when Senator Abraham Dillon called for the establishment of war and economic crimes court, it was expected that Senator Johnson who could not contain his rage at Sen. Dillon’s mention of “war crimes court” and subsequently walked out of session, would have mounted the pulpit on Sunday to further justify his participation in the senseless war. He believed that Sen. Dillon was intentionally provoking him.
On Sunday at his Chapel of Faith Ministry, the former INPFL rebel general now Senator of Nimba County responded to some of the many allegations against him, and first on his list was the accusation that he killed Tecumseh Roberts, a famous rising musical star at the time accused of being gay.
The former war general while on the pulpit took excerpts from the book ‘A Nation in Terror’ by James Youboty that exonerates him from that allegation. The book narrates that Senator Johnson’s principal deputy in the INPFL, Samuel Varney, carried out the execution of Tecumseh.
“Senator Johnson said: “People say I am a mass murderer; I am not perfect but I didn’t kill Tecumseh Roberts. I have documentary evidence on how he was killed. He was a good singer, I used to like him. He was my friend. We were singing when I got the news that the AFL was attacking us, I left him and went on the battlefront by the time I got back General Samuel Varney had killed him because he believed he was gay.
“I wasn’t happy but I couldn’t do anything because Varney was my deputy and a key part of my warring faction and he has some men who were loyal to him. If I had done anything to Varney, it would have caused division in my army so I had to live with it and that is something I still feel bad about.
“People say I am a mass murderer; I am not perfect but I didn’t kill Tecumseh Roberts. I have documentary evidence on how he was killed. He was a good singer, I used to like him. He was my friend. We were singing when I got the news that the AFL was attacking us, I left him and went on the battlefront by the time I got back General Samuel Varney had killed him because he believed he was gay.”
– Senator Prince Y. Johnson, and former leader of the defunct Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia
“I painfully kept in me that anger against Varney I couldn’t do anything because it would have divided us. I didn’t tell the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) I killed Tecumseh. Senator Dillon also had a press conference on Truth FM and stated that I killed Tecumseh – that is false.
“During his interview, he repeatedly referred to me as Prince Johnson. That was rudeness and dishonorable. That is why I said I will turn his table upside down.”
The theme of his sermon was: ‘When Truth Is Crushed To The Earth It Shall Rise’.
In that sermon, the Nimba County Senator accused the former chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Jerome Verdier of manipulating the report of the TRC to target certain people even when huge percentage of Liberians had voted against retributive justice.
Nimba will not support Liberty Party
Being the godfather of Nimba County, as he often branded himself, Sen. Johnson vowed that because of the continuous ‘provocation’ from Sen. Dillon, the people of Nimba will cease to support the Liberty Party which Dillon is a high-ranking member of. He said Nimba will only support the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC).
“The good thing about Dillon speaking his mind is that he spoke on behalf of the people he represents. Because of that, the people of Nimba will not support Liberty Party or any other party than the CDC. Dillon wants to bring instability in Liberia and for us we are interested in peace.”