Nimba youths asked to abandon violence

The Commissioner for the Independent National Commission on Human Rights [INCHR] has called on young people of Nimba County to do away with violence and embrace positive thoughts and actions for the benefit of not only themselves, but the country at large.

Speaking to The NewDawnNimba County correspondent during a town hall meeting over the weekend with citizens at the John Wesley Pearson High School in Ganta, Cllr. Justice Gladys K. Johnson said Liberia went thru 14 years of civil war without anything to point to as a nation.

Commissioner Johnson challenged young people of Nimba to oppose violence so that other counties could emulate from them. She also admonished citizens of the county not to take the law into their own hands, but to seek redress thru the court or justice system.

Commenting specifically on last month’s bloody riot in Ganta City, Nimba County which left at least two dead and properties destroyed, she urged Namibians to bring to justice all those involved in the violence.
At the meeting, several Namibians expressed disappointment in the justice system, citing justice delay.

The aggrieved citizens said delay in the justice system is one of the roots causes of persistent riot in the county. They told Commissioner Johnson that on several instances, motorcyclists, including peaceful citizens have been killed without any arrest into such killings.

According to them, three persons were found dead with parts extracted from their bodies in what seems to be ritualistic killings without any arrest made by the county authorities or concern from the government.
Also speaking, the Public Defender for Nimba, Attorney MewasehPaybayee, blamed the police and other authorities for the delay in implementing justice.

Attorney Paybayee said following the recent riot, police arrested 60 suspects and forwarded them to Gbarnga, Bong County without his knowledge as county defender, stressing that if the police wanted to send suspects to Gbarnga, it should be based on consensus.

 By Franklin Doloquee, Nimba- Edited by Jonathan Browne