Monrovia – The Assistant Director of the Executive Protection Services (EPS) has told FrontPageAfrica that though the EPS under his watch has some ex-combatants, society must accept that most of those who found themselves in activities of the civil war are now remodeled and refined.
Report by Lennart Dodoo, [email protected]
“We all came from some kind of background. Some of these guys have been remodeled.
They’ve become transformed. Some have attained education and are now different and reformed persons. So, why should we deny them the opportunity to serve?”- Sadatt Henry Wolo, Assistant Director, Executive Protection Service
He made the assertions while speaking about a FrontPageAfrica publication which pointed out that several former ex-combatants with no training have infiltrated the elite security group.
The EPS is responsible for the protection of the President, First Lady, Vice President, other VIPs, including foreign guests.
“We all came from some kind of background. Some of these guys have been remodeled. They’ve become transformed; some have attained education and are now different reformed persons so why should we deny them the opportunity to serve?” Sadatt Henry Wolo said.
He, however, boasted that though he was associated with former Presidents Samuel K. Doe and Charles G. Taylor, he has no link with the war neither was he ever a member of any of the warring factions.
Though some security experts believe that the incorporation of untrained men in the EPS could put the life of the President or other VIP at risk, he noted that the guards protecting the President are people who the President has explicit confidence in, having provided him security over the years.
“The President had some men who were with him during the campaign providing him security. Some of them have been protecting him for years.”
“Now, if he says they are the ones he wants to continue protecting him, what can I say? Security is confidence,” he said.
No One Dismissed
Wolo told FrontPageAfrica that despite bringing new corps of agents to the EPS, none of the agents who served in the previous administration has been deactivated.
However, he told FPA that in line with security protocol, not all of the agents they met in the system continue to hold the same positions they used to hold.
“Security is trust and confidence. To work with you, we need to trust you.”
“It doesn’t mean you are not trained or you don’t meet the qualification,” he said.
Wolo had been with this elite security group since the presidency of former President Samuel K. Doe when it was Special Security Services (SSS) that was deactivated by former President Sirleaf.
“For no reason, the former President deactivated some of us. Yes, some were put on pensioned, but when President Weah called me back. I decided to bring some of the trained guys back.”
“So far, only one I’ve brought back and I’ve written to CSA to inform them that Thomas Swen has been reactivated,” he said.
He said, the EPS has plans of recruiting and training about 250 agents but will not be able to do so until the appropriate budget is raised to support their programs.
“So far, we have only recruited about 45. We have a list of 250 but we have not recruited them yet because there’s no budget,” he said.