MONROVIA – On Monday, hundreds of Liberians gathered in front of the headquarters of the Liberia National Police in Monrovia to protest the death of one Kolubah Marshall.
Marshall, 32, a resident of Monrovia’s Johnson Street, was allegedly murdered by an angry crowd on March 12, following a scuffle with a motorcyclist, who reportedly demanded additional transport fare from him following a trip.
The deceased, FrontPageAfrica gathered, was said to be a Junior student who studied Economics and Sociology at the State-run University of Liberia, prior to his demise.
There have been conflicting accounts regarding his death, with one source alleging he was a motorcycle criminal, while another source alleged he was never associated with criminal activity.
Despite these accounts, aggrieved citizens, under the banner “Friends of Johnson Street,” besieged the main entrance of the Liberia National Police demanding justice for the situation leading to the death of Marshall.
Speaking Monday, when they assembled in their numbers with placards, the spokesperson, Abraham Nyantee, explained that the incident occurred when Kolubah had refused to give additional money to the motorcyclist as transport fare which prompted others around the scene to allegedly term him a criminal.
According to him, within no time, angry crowd murdered the Marshall without analyzing the situation.
“He used to sell broken tiles along Johnson Street, but when the motorcyclist saw money in his bag, he decided to demand an additional fare.
According to Nyantee, they will not accept any proposal from the Liberia National Police about conducting an autopsy as a means of providing them justice, but rather wants Guarantee Trust Bank Liberia Clara Town Branch to display a recording of their CCTV on the day of the incident.
“All we need currently is justice because we have been hearing of series of deaths and nothing has come out of it, but trust me, this one will not leave like this,” Nyantee stressed.
Another protester, Queen Johnson, wants all those involved with the alleged mob violence to be arrested by the Liberia National Police to face prosecution.
“We were told that there are several people who were involved, but only three were arrested, let the Police go to GT-Bank Liberia in Clara Town and look at the video recording, it will show all those involved,” Queen lamented.
She further maintained: “We have assembled here to demand Justice for Kolubah and all those who have been killed without any good explanation. The police need to step up to put an end to mob violence. Kolubah was never a criminal, he was a seller along Johnson Street and well known.”
However, Deputy Police Inspector for Operations, Marvin Sackor, who addressed the aggrieved citizens, called for calm as the police were doing everything possible to investigate the matter.
Inspector Sackor told protesters that criminal investigation is not a one-day process, but takes a lot of time to avoid indicting the wrong person.
He, meanwhile, added the LNP is not ignoring all the happenings across the country as being perceived, but is ensuring that these cases are investigated professionally.
As law enforcement officers, Sackor added, it was incumbent upon the LNP to engage in a civilized manner with citizens who have grievances and seeking justice.
“Whenever our people come to our headquarters to seek justice, we are under obligation to give them the necessary information,” Inspector Sackor said.
Currently, Sackor added, three persons have been arrested as suspects in connection to the death of the late Marshall.
Of the three, Sackor said, two have been charged with murder, while one was charged with aggravated assault.
He named Mohammed Kromah and Boakai Passawe, as persons who were charged with murder, and Thomas Blamo was charged with aggravated assault.
Sackor cautioned against using violence as the means of getting redress while at the same time urged residents to always conduct themselves in the similar peaceful manner they demonstrated Monday.
Sackor said: “We want to urge you that sometimes when you have a problem like this address it peacefully as you have done today.”
Rumours of ritual murders and mysterious deaths have been spreading on social media for weeks in Liberia, with reports of corpses found with body parts removed – ostensibly for occult purposes.
