Grand Bassa County – Police in Grand Bassa County have arrested six men for vandalizing and looting after setting ablaze seven huts in Sowah Town – a very remote community in District Four.
Report by: Elton Wrionbee Tiah, FPA Reporter
Eye witnesses said the suspects were reacting to the death of a 28 year old man who had gone fishing and was later discovered dead.
After they reportedly burned down the huts, the suspects then made away with valuable items including rice and money.
Archie Thomas, 25; Robert Flee, 53, Daniel Wheagar , 23, Marcus Brown, 20, Doe Barnie,43, and a Nigerian identified as Abe Awbe were later arrested and taken to the Police headquarters in District #4 where they were detained.
Locals told FrontPageAfrica that the suspects were retaliating to the death of their colleague Jefferson Nagbe, who had gone fishing in a nearby river, and was reported to have drowned.
The suspects reportedly accused the residents of Sowah Town of “killing” 28-year-old Nagbe. They alleged that the town performed “witchcraft” that caused the death of Nagbe, who was believed to be a good diver.
Marthaline Josiah, wife of the deceased, told FPA that her husband was a “very good swimmer who used to help safe people from drowning”.
“I was on the market ground when people went to call me to quickly come to the house because my husband Jefferson Nagbe drowned in the ocean,” she explained.
“When I got in the town I couldn’t even sit because angry crowd from Neetor town started burning places”.
Henry Chea Karpee, an elder of the town, told FrontPageAfrica that upon hearing that the late Nagbe got drowned, an angry crowd from a nearby village was already on an onslaught to burn down their town.
“The boys came in our town like rebels and they started taking people things from their shops and burning down places saying that that ‘Sowah Town is a witch craft town’ that has eaten the late Jefferson Nagbe,” Elder Karpee said, adding that “all of us in the town got afraid and ran in the bush for safety”.
He said that the corpse of the deceased spent two days near the riverside awaiting the police to carry out inspection “because everyone was afraid to bury him in the absence of the police”.
On April 10, a 15 man coroner jury was set up to examine the corpse before burial.
Later, the coroner jury and health workers stated in a report that the victim had died as a result of drowning.
The wife of the decease is now worried that the livelihood of their four children will be a major challenge for her.
“My husband Jefferson Nagbe used to really support the children, today he’s dead, how will I manage with these children in this hard country,” she cried.
Meanwhile, Representative Thomas Alexander Goshua said his office will work directly with the police to ensure that everyone linked to destruction and looting of the town is brought before the law.
“As the Representative of this district, I will never support violence because violence leads to damages as we all can see here today,” Goshua said.
“We pity the condition of the bereaved family but we have to ensure that all those involved with the burning down of kitchens and stealing from the citizens are arrested”.