Mobrovia-“I was hired to kill you,” was the alleged warning that turned fear into cash, that later landed 61-year-old Saah Fayiah Jr., alias Alahaji Bamba, in prison.
Liberian police say Fayiah allegedly posed as a traditional herbalist and convinced a woman, Pauline S. Zaza, a resident of Lower Margibi County, that her life was in immediate danger, before allegedly collecting US$7,200 from her through a series of demands for spiritual sacrifices.
According to a police charge sheet dated August 13, Fayiah allegedly told Madan Zaza that an unidentified man had paid him US$5,000 to kill her.
Police say Fayiah further claimed Zaza had only three days to live.
The alleged threat set in motion what investigators describe as a calculated scheme that allegedly exploited Zaza’s fear and belief in traditional spiritual intervention.
THREE-DAY DEATH WARNING
According to investigators, Zaza initially responded by sending Fayiah LD$5,000 after allegedly being told that her life was under threat.
Police say Fayiah later traveled to Fendell, where he allegedly performed what Zaza believed was a spiritual ritual.
Investigators allege that the encounter intensified the woman’s fears.
Fayiah allegedly told Zaza that spiritual forces were threatening her and that money was needed to perform sacrifices.
Among the alleged demands were funds to purchase a cow, goat and chicken.
What began with an alleged death threat would eventually result in thousands of United States dollars allegedly changing hands.
Police say Zaza ultimately paid Fayiah US$7,200 in several instalments.
But investigators allege the demands did not stop there.
ANOTHER US$3,000 DEMANDED
According to the police account, Fayiah subsequently demanded another US$3,000.
Zaza allegedly could not raise the entire amount.
Police say she managed to provide US$2,000.
Then came another demand.
Investigators alleged that on August 11, Fayiah requested an additional US$100 and instructed Zaza to meet him in Clara Town.
But this time, police say, investigators were waiting.
Fayiah was reportedly arrested during the planned meeting after Zaza had already complained to authorities.
THE WITNESS WHO FOLLOWED THE TRAIL
The investigation reportedly includes the account of Solomon Grant, a witness who told police he accompanied Zaza to meetings with Fayiah on six occasions.
Grant reportedly said Zaza believed Fayiah was a native doctor and sought his assistance because of the alleged threat against her life.
His account could become important if prosecutors seek to establish how the alleged scheme operated and how Fayiah allegedly maintained Zaza’s confidence in his claims.
FAYIAH DENIES THE ACCUSATION
Fayiah has reportedly denied the allegations.
According to police, he told investigators that his dealings with Zaza were connected to a land dispute and an effort to help her become wealthy.
He reportedly denied threatening Zaza or deceiving her into surrendering money.
But investigators say they found no evidence that Fayiah was a legitimate herbalist and no evidence supporting his alleged claim that someone had hired him to kill Zaza.
That finding raises a more troubling question at the heart of the case, how much money can fear extract from a vulnerable person when the person creating the fear presents himself as the one capable of providing salvation.
WHEN FEAR BECOMES A BUSINESS
The case highlights a sensitive issue in Liberia: the exploitation of traditional beliefs and fear for financial gain.
For many Liberians, traditional medicine and spiritual practices remain part of everyday life.
But police say the Fayiah case involves something fundamentally different, the alleged use of a fabricated threat of death to obtain money.
If proven in court, the allegations would suggest that the supposed danger was not merely a threat from an unknown attacker.
It was allegedly the foundation of the entire scheme.
The alleged message was simple, pay, or die. And each new demand allegedly came with another reason why payment was necessary.
CHARGED WITH THEFT OF PROPERTY
Fayiah has been charged with Theft of Property under Section 15.51 of Liberia’s Revised Penal Law and was forwarded to the Monrovia City Court on Friday, August 14.
The charge follows a police investigation triggered by Zaza’s complaint and culminating in Fayiah’s arrest.
He remains in custody as the legal process proceeds.
The prosecution will ultimately have to establish in court that the alleged payments were obtained through conduct that satisfies the elements of the criminal offense.
The police charge sheet represents allegations, not a judicial finding of guilt.
A CASE BEYOND US$7,200
At face value, the case is about US$7,200.
But the allegations raise a much larger concern.
If someone can allegedly convince another person that an assassin has been paid to kill her, and then allegedly position himself as the only person capable of preventing that death, where does spiritual counselling end and criminal exploitation begin?
And when fear becomes the currency, how many victims remain silent because they are embarrassed to admit they believed the threat.
For Zaza, police intervention allegedly ended the cycle on August 11.
For Fayiah, however, the next battle will be fought not through rituals or spiritual claims, but in a courtroom.
There, prosecutors will have to prove whether the frightening story that allegedly extracted thousands of dollars from a terrified woman was a genuine warning, or a carefully constructed deception designed to make money.
Fayiah has been remanded behind bars by Monrovia City Court Judge Ben Barco and he remains presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction.
