Liberia: Congo Town Resident Decries ‘Unlawful’ Family’s Eviction

Monrovia – A resident of the Congo Town community in Montserrado County has described the forceful eviction of him and his family as a “lawless eviction,” allegedly carried out on the orders of City Court Judge Ben Barco, in the absence of any family members.

Alben Johnsar Jr. explained that the property in question is located in the R.C. Lawson Institute School community in Congo Town and was forcefully demolished on Saturday, April 5, 2025, following an eviction order issued by Judge Barco. According to Johnsar, the eviction was carried out despite his lawyer, Cllr. Benjamin Stewart, having informed the judge not to proceed with the action.

Johnsar further alleged that he was personally attacked by the group of men who executed the eviction and destroyed his property.

“My lawyer, Cllr. Stewart, filed a bill of exceptions to dismiss the case, and Judge Barco signed it. Once he signed that bill, the case should have been transferred to the Civil Law Court, meaning he no longer had jurisdiction,” Johnsar said. “Therefore, he had no legal right to order the eviction of me and my family.”

Johnsar explained that the house belonged to his late grandmother, Saturday Gbassagee, who passed the property on to his mother, Tenneh Grime, and her elder sister, Mitchell Grime, who has been living in Spain for the past 40 years. He alleged that Mitchell authorized her son, Aaron Grime, who resides on Peace Island, to sell the property to a man identified as M. J. Musa—without the consent of other family members, including himself.

“My aunt, Mitchell Grime, sold our property to M. J. Musa without our knowledge or consent,” Johnsar said. “Several times, Musa came with groups of men attempting to break down our house. I explained to them that the property belongs to a large group of family members, not just to my aunt, but they ignored me. On Saturday, they finally destroyed our home.”

Johnsar also revealed that his wife operated a small business from their home, selling rice and other goods. At the time of the demolition, she reportedly had more than 15 bags of rice, along with large sums of Liberian and U.S. dollars, all of which were allegedly looted during the eviction.

When contacted for comment, M. J. Musa declined to speak, telling our reporter: “I have nothing to say about the matter. You should contact the City Court for more information.”