Monrovia – Relatives of 13 men killed on April 22, 1980, have bestowed honor on the mass grave hosting their remains 41 years after they were executed on the order of the then Liberian President Samuel K. Doe.
Ten days after the coup and assassination of former President Williams R. Tolbert, 13 of his officials were executed and were buried in a mass grave on Center Street in Monrovia.
It is 41 years now and scores of relatives of the men who were executed trooped their way in the scorching sun to lay wreaths on the grave that all of them were buried in.
“Honorable Richard A. Henries was one of, if not the only African who was there drafting the UN Chapter that governs the United Nations,” Madam Jeanine Cooper, Liberia Agriculture Minister said.
Madam Cooper added: “Many of you do not know the role that these men played in forming AU, ECOWAS, African Development Bank, the Mano River Union. Many of you do not know the role these men played in forming African liberation. But we must remember that for the role they played as Africans, as Liberians, as patriots. And in everything I knew about them was that they loved Liberia.”
Also, the senior pastor of the Providence Baptist Church Rev. Samuel Reeves recalled: “When we think about the lives of these patriots, we think about eternity. What they have done for the nation, for the world, and for the kingdom for that matter,” Rev. Reeves said.
As current head of the Baptist Mission, Rev. Reeves promised to give their support to whatever project that will be initiated by relatives of the late 13 men.
“To add to that, by God willing by the end of this year, we are going to launch the William R. Tolbert Jr. Baptist University in his honor,” Rev. Reeves disclosed.
Adding up, the former Paynesville City Mayor, Cyvette Gibson told FrontPage Africa that there is a lesson that is needed to be learned from the death of the 13 men that were executed in 1980.
“We need to be a united nation; we need to move away from tribalism and all of the other things that we used to divide. It is important that we stand as Liberians, as one nation to move our country forward, let us put everything aside,” Madam Gibson said.