Buchanan, Grand Bassa County – Top officers of the Liberian National Police were seen in the port city of Buchanan early Sunday morning investigating the mysterious death of a girl which sparked violent riot from angry residents.
Report by Apha Daffae Senkpeni – alpha.senkpeni@frontpage africaonline.com
The girl, in her early 20s and only identified as Princess, body was discovered in the Sugar Cane Farm community Friday morning by community dwellers.
Eyewitnesses said the girl was found tied up with bruises visible on her lifeless body.
No body parts were extracted from her, according to a 15 man coroner jury set up to examine the corpse. The jury comprises of residents of the community where the body was found.
When the incident was reported to the Grand Bassa County detachment of the LNP, an unknown man reportedly made confession that he was part of the ploy to murder the girl prompting angry residents to go amuck, storming the city in violent protest – demanding the Police to arrest the culprits.
Following the arrest of the unidentified man who reportedly confessed to the crime, the protesters then stormed the LNP headquarters on the Fairgrounds in Buchanan City, demanding the mob justice.
Some of the angry protesters demanded that the Police turn over the suspect to them, our correspondent who was on the scene reported.
As speculations later swelled over the last location of the deceased, some said she was last seen at a local bar identified as Garden Park.
This reportedly prompted over 3,000 angry mobs who then ransacked the facility on Saturday morning, looting and destroying the entire property located few yards at the back of the county’s administration building.
The angry crowd then stormed the Liberian Government hospital, where they believed the injured suspect was being treated, throwing stones and attempting to break through the health facility but were disbursed by reinforcement from the Police Support Unit (PSU) from Monrovia.
The security situation in the port city following the discovery of the girl’s lifeless body has attracted local and national concerns with several government officials including LNP Inspector General Gregory Coleman, Grand Bassa Senator Jonathan Kaipay.
Buchanan District Representative Gabriel Smith and county superintendent Levi Demmah all getting involve with prompt investigation of the matter.
Speaking briefly to reporters as the Police carried out its investigation, Senator Kaipay assured that all efforts will be exerted to arrest the perpetrators of the crime.
The LNP has not released any detail about the incident, but sources within the county detachment confirmed that an official statement will be released by Monday while investigation continuous.
Editor’s note: Elton Tiah of Radio Dukpa in Buchana contributed to this report