GANTA, Nimba County – A 40-year-old man has died while in the custody of the Ganta Police Detachment barely three days after his arrest.
The deceased, Joe Kolleh who was a resident of Gbloryee community in Ganta, was being held by police for allegedly owing his friend, Moses Yeanay, LD$ 6,000, police told FrontPage Africa.
Yeanay had hired Kolleh to do a contract for him for the sum of LD$ 40,000 of which amount he paid LD$ 6,000. Kolleh failed to do the contract until he was arrested following a complaint filed by Yeanay on May 4, police say.
Kolleh, who was arrested on May 6, was forcibly restrained during a struggle with the arresting officer, a police source told our reporter.
Police in the county have remained coy on circumstances that led to the death of Kolleh, but the deceased’s family say they suspect a foul play. Fasu Kollie, relative of the deceased, said they found out by text message Sunday from their neighbor that their brother had died in police custody.
A distraught Kollie said the family doesn’t understand how their relative died in police custody. He said the police had not been updating the family since Kolleh passed out. “Our brother never hurt anyone; he had lot of friends. For me, I feel the police is hiding something from the family because they haven’t speaking to us since our brother died,” he said.
He said it was very sad not to have Kolleh at the house anymore. “We used to laugh at jokes he made and he helped me with my children to get them to school. We are broken down as a family. It’s really hard for us to go on,” he said.
He said they have already contacted a lawyer.
Kolleh’s death brings to three the number of suspects who have died in the Ganta Police custody in less than two years.