LNP officer complains West Point Magistrate

The West Point Magisterial Court on 2 January issued a Writ of Arrest for Defendant Jerome S. Togba, Jr. of the Liberia National Police (LNP) charged with the crime of Simple Assault of private prosecutor Beyan Bana of the City of Monrovia.

The writ explains that the private prosecutor told the court that on 31st December 2017, defendant Jerome S. Togba, Jr. jumped on the peaceful body of complainant Beyan Bana and struck him with a handcuff on his face, causing him to bleed severely.
The court document further details that defendant Togba sprayed Beyan Bana’s eyes with a pepper spray, causing him to suffer serious bodily injury and pain.

According to the court, as a result of the act, private prosecutor Bana took several stitches on his lips. The writ continues that during the commission of the alleged crime, private prosecutor Bana lost seven (7) cell phones, valued US$600 besides US$260 cash, respectively.

However, on 10 January defendant Jerome S. Togba, Jr. instead filed a complaint against Stipendiary Magistrate Ernest F. B. Bana of the West Point Magisterial Court to the Presiding Resident Circuit Court Judge at the Temple of Justice Roosevelt S. Willie, calling on him to cite Magistrate Ernest Bana to show cause whether his action against him [defendant Togba] is in accordance with the law of Liberia.

Defendant Togba claims that he caught a relative of Magistrate Ernest Bana whose name he did not disclose, with his legal wife and immediately jumped on him in a fight in Caldwell Township, Montserrado County He says while the case is at the Zone Seven (7) Police Station in Caldwell, Magistrate Ernest Bana’s relative ran to him in West Point Town and prevailed on the Magistrate to issue a writ of arrest.

The defendant Togbe says the relative in question, who is serving as the complainant in the case, lives in the same community in Caldwell where the matter occurs.

When this paper visited the West Point Magisterial Court on 11 January to ascertain the court’s side of the story, court officers said Magistrate Ernest F.B. Bana was indisposed.

By Emmanuel Mondaye-Editing by Jonathan Browne