Monrovia – The 2015 International Children’s Peace Prize winner, Abraham Keita, has given the Government of Liberia until Friday, July 5, to come up with a full report in the mysterious killing of two children in Kingsville, District 1, Montserrado County.
On Monday, June 24, residents of Kingsville Number 7 Community, District #1, Montserrado County, held a protest in demand of “justice” for the mysterious death of two children – Thomas Kollie, 10, and Elijah Porluma, 9.
According to Abraham, while the protestors were demanding justice, live gunshots were fired at them by police officers, who had gone to disperse the rioters. After the riot, at least three young men – Abraham Tumay, 17, Saah Saah, 18, and Dave Mombo, 18, sustained injury.
At a press conference Monday, July 1, Keita stressed that if the GoL doesn’t come up with a full scale report from their investigation, the children of Liberia will have no other option but to take to the streets to protest until something concrete can be heard.
“We want to unequivocally state that the Government of Liberia has up to Friday, the 5th of July, to make public its probe into the Kingsville shooting and the shooters be identified, made public and forwarded for prosecution under our laws. Failure to adhere to this demand will lead to a series of peaceful protest actions by the children of Liberia until justice prevails.”
According to Kingsville residents, the police forensic team intervened and conducted an autopsy when the two kids’ lifeless bodies were discovered. Subsequently, four men were arrested in connection to the kids’ mysterious deaths.
To the dismay of the residents, the four men arrested were released without any information to the community from the police and the local authorities of the county.
Keita, a Nobel Peace laureate, has however, assured the children and young people of Liberia that this time around ‘it would not be business as usual’.
“This time will not be the same old story. This madness and wickedness of state security officers shooting and killing unarmed citizens has got to stop. We can no longer condone such barbaric act from any police officer or soldier or any government security apparatus. The West Point shooting incident was enough to beat some sense into the police.”
In another development, Keita has condemned the “brutal and disdainful beating” of a 16-yr-old female 10-grader at the Soltiamon Christian School System few weeks ago.
“The beating of student Mary Paul (real name withheld), that led to serious bodily injuries, violates Article 7, Section 7.1 of the 2011 Children’s Law of Liberia, which prohibits corporal punishments, torture and all forms of cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment as well as the Code of Conduct for Teachers and School Administrators in Liberia,” he stated.