Motorcyclists, police clash

Angry commercial motorcyclists clash with armed riot police in a stone throwing battle early Thursday, 24 May in the Paynesville suburb of Parker Paint, leaving at least three persons injured.

The aggrieved motorcyclists were demanding the remains of one of their colleagues, the late Beyan Lamin, who was reportedly shot and killed by police commander Roosevelt Demann last month in the same vicinity.

Roosevelt Demann was charged with murder after he allegedly shot Beyan Lamin during a scuffle to arrest him for allegedly violating a 10:00 p.m. restriction on commercial motorcycling.

The accused told the court that he would be represented during his trial by a team of lawyers, who were not present during his presentation to the court. Thursday’s riot led to closure of businesses with residents and business people running helter-skelter for safety as the protestors attempted forcing their way to the main commercial district of Redlight, but were contained by armed personnel of the police Emergency Response Unit (ERU).

Pedestrians, sellers and buyers drowned in panic as the stampede intensified.Speaking to reporters, the aggrieved motorcyclists say government has failed to explain where the corpse of the late Beyan Lamin are being kept, more than a month after the police gruesomely murdered him.

Several persons lost personal valuables in the riot, which obstructed free movement of vehicles from Kakata to Parker Paint; Pipeline to Parker Paint, and Redlight to Parker Paint, respectively.

Many vehicle operators forcibly u-turned to avoid being hit by protestors’ stones or having the cars smashed. Sources at the police depot in Paynesville claim police made several arrests, but up to press time, there was no official account from the Liberia National Police (LNP).

However, following preliminary probe at the National Police Headquarters on Capitol Hill, Police Inspector General Patrick Sudue, recently noted that police commander Roosevelt Demann, who has been subsequently charged for murder and detained pending trial, had no cause for shooting and killing cyclist Beyan Lamin, after the victim had escaped from him.

Suspect Demann pursued the late Lamin at his family residence in the Parker Paint community, Paynesville and shot him point blank in the back of his head before leaving the scene.

By Emmanuel Mondaye–Editing by Jonathan Browne