Monrovia – The Liberia National Police (LNP) has dismissed Officer Ithamar Harding, code number unit 187, the Chief of Technical Services of the Public Safety Division at the LNP, with immediate effect. This action comes after he allowed murder suspect Queen Johnson to escape custody following her arrest over the weekend by state security officers at the Red Lion, an entertainment spot in Central Monrovia.
On December 5, 2023, the Liberia National Police declared Miss Johnson, a partisan of the Unity Party (UP), and several individuals wanted for an investigation into the death of Joshua Solomon, a partisan of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC). Solomon, a 35-year-old flamboyant model and beauty pageant trainer, succumbed to injuries sustained during the 2023 electoral campaign when he was attacked on August 11, 2023, around the Unity Party’s campaign office in Sinkor after being spotted wearing a CDC T-shirt and cap.
Video footage from the incident shows Miss Johnson holding Solomon as she and several others badly beat him. Solomon suffered from internal bleeding after the incident, ultimately leading to his untimely death. Since then, Moses Carter, the police spokesman, pointed out that several people were identified in the video and asked to turn themselves in to the LNP for questioning. However, more than a month has passed, and no one has come forward.
Over the weekend, the police received an alert that Miss Johnson was at an entertainment center at the intersection of Broad and Buchanan Streets in central Monrovia. Officers quickly responded to the scene and successfully arrested her. While transporting her to the Liberia National Police Headquarters, Miss Johnson was turned over to Officer Harding, a senior officer who had promised to bring her in for investigation.
However, Officer Harding absconded with Miss Johnson from the grounds of the Liberia National Police Headquarters. On January 6, 2024, the Police Spokesman, Moses Carter, addressed the press, stating that Officer Harding had been dismissed for unethical behavior.
“Unfortunately, while en route to the headquarters of the Liberia National Police to face investigation, Madam Johnson was driven off the headquarters of the Liberia National Police in the vehicle operated by one of our officers,” said Carter. “She was driven by the officer and allegedly absconded the scene here at the LNP headquarters.”
According to him, all the responding officers who arrested Miss Johnson have been subjected to a professional standard investigation. “In addition to these officers that have been subjected, the officer who is alleged and identified by these officers to have been the one who aided and abetted allegedly the absconding of Madam Johnson from the scene, the officer identified as Ithamar Harding, code number Unit 187, the Chief of Technical Services of the Public Safety Division,” Carter said.
He added, “Officer Harding has been dismissed with immediate effect and forwarded to the Professional Standard Division for questioning on how Madam Johnson escaped.”
Carter emphasized that the LNP will not rest until Miss Johnson and several others seen in the video are brought in for questioning. “Our quest for Madam Johnson and others to face interrogation remains unbending,” the Police Spokesman declared.
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