- Written by FPA Staff Report
- Published: 23 August 2014
Monrovia - On
Wednesday, a fracas between state security forces led by the Armed
Forces of Liberia and Liberian National Police on one hand and some
residents of West Point on the other led to shooting and throwing of
stones and other objects leaving at least three wounded.
A 15-year-old-boy, Sackie Kamara wounded in both legs later died at the Redemption Hospital where he is said to have bled profusely prior to his death.
The Government of Liberia through defense Minister Brownie Samukai has said the boy sustained the injury from the stampede despite the images and videos showing that the wound in one of the boys’ legs was deep to be sustained through the stampede.
On Friday, Eva Nah, mother of the late Sackie said she is demanding that the government allow her to view the dead body of her son. Eva told FrontPageAfrica that on Wednesday morning she sent her son to buy tea for early morning breakfast only to hear later that he was shot by security officers.
“They fired my son, I just sent the boy to buy tea that morning and people telling me they fired my son, they don’t want me to see his body, I feel so bad”, Eva told FPA.
The grieving mother has said since the West Point Isolation center incident her son has not left the house until the shooting incident and is therefore demanding to have access to his body. West Point Community Chairman Paul Kieh also expressed frustration at the manner in which state security forces reacted to the incident which he said involved shooting live bullets at civilians.
“I believe more people got shot by the soldiers, but some are not known yet,” Kieh said. An uncle to Sackie who preferred to be called Gabriel also expressed anger at the action of state security forces. “They were just shooting not only in the air”, Gabriel said.
Early Friday morning, FPA received a call from West Point that another boy allegedly shot in the stomach was very ill and his father wanted to speak to the press, but before arrival, some neighbors said the boy and his father have left the area and he has been taken for treatment to an unknown location. The government has maintained through Minister Samukai that it did not mandate security forces to shoot and kill.
‘Superficial wound’ leads to death
On Wednesday Minister Samukai said the boy sustained the cut from the barbed wire that was used for the blockade. “The wound is a superficial wound, a wound in which the individual was jumping or was running or through the stampede wounded himself,” said Samukai.
“The intention was not to harm anyone but just to keep the crowd away, instead of the crowd stoning and trying to hurt. Understand that people are beating up health workers and they have attacked a police vehicle and attacked security personnel. We cannot sit there, that is why we issued the warning shots to keep them away.”
The Armed Forces of Liberia, Public Affairs Officer Dessaline Allison admitted that there was shooting in the air to disperse the crowd and three persons got wounded.
State radio, the Liberia Broadcasting System is defending that the boy died from stampede and was not shot with live bullets.
No space for 23 suspected Ebola patients
In a related Ebola development, FPA gathered late Saturday that six ambulances filled with suspected Ebola patients collected from several communities around Monrovia could not get space at both the JFK and ELWA Ebola centers.
An individual on one of the ambulances, Gordon Kamara said the six ambulances with 23 suspected Ebola patients were all parked at ELWA with no space and said three died on the scene. Kamara said a three month old baby and his mother were amongst the suspected Ebola patients waiting to be attended to. http://frontpageafricaonline.com/index.php/politic/2755-w-point-victim-s-mom-demands-son-s-corpse-ebola-patients-wander
On Wednesday Minister Samukai said the boy sustained the cut from the barbed wire that was used for the blockade. “The wound is a superficial wound, a wound in which the individual was jumping or was running or through the stampede wounded himself,” said Samukai.
“The intention was not to harm anyone but just to keep the crowd away, instead of the crowd stoning and trying to hurt. Understand that people are beating up health workers and they have attacked a police vehicle and attacked security personnel. We cannot sit there, that is why we issued the warning shots to keep them away.”
The Armed Forces of Liberia, Public Affairs Officer Dessaline Allison admitted that there was shooting in the air to disperse the crowd and three persons got wounded.
State radio, the Liberia Broadcasting System is defending that the boy died from stampede and was not shot with live bullets.
No space for 23 suspected Ebola patients
In a related Ebola development, FPA gathered late Saturday that six ambulances filled with suspected Ebola patients collected from several communities around Monrovia could not get space at both the JFK and ELWA Ebola centers.
An individual on one of the ambulances, Gordon Kamara said the six ambulances with 23 suspected Ebola patients were all parked at ELWA with no space and said three died on the scene. Kamara said a three month old baby and his mother were amongst the suspected Ebola patients waiting to be attended to. http://frontpageafricaonline.com/index.php/politic/2755-w-point-victim-s-mom-demands-son-s-corpse-ebola-patients-wander
