By Othello B. Garblah
Last August, Liberia celebrated two decades of peace since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement 20 years ago in the Ghanaian capital, Accra.
From the surface, the guns have been long silenced, and the people are focused on consolidating their democracy which has witnessed successive elections, changes of power from one regime to another through the ballot boxes and a prospect for economic growth and development semblance of stability from a volatile history.
However, despite decades of peace and transition of power from one regime to another, Liberia remains fragile. The country is currently sitting on a time boom that could soon explore beyond everyone’s imagination.
Yes, the country faces a clear and present danger from two emerging warring factions: Pen-Pen Riders (Commercial motorcyclists) and At-Risk Youth, commonly referred to as Zogoes.
These two groups, one primarily dominated by ex-child soldiers and street dwellers most of whom are drug addicts (Zogoes), and the other because of weak systems have placed this once troubled West African country on a time boom that both politicians and policymakers have continued to ignore.
According to the United Nations Development Programme, there are well over 75,000 disadvantaged youth or zogos in Liberia and can be found mainly in the urban areas. This figure could be higher as new members join daily. There are no exact figures for the Pen-Pen Riders who provide transportation services in both urban and rural communities. However, this group is made up of mostly school dropouts, former combatants, and young family heads.
While this last group of Pen-Pen riders are part of the informal sector and making little contributions to society, their outlaw behaviors outweighed their meager contributions.
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For example, they drive recklessly and obey no traffic rules. They are quick to set vehicles on fire whenever there is an accident involving one of their members with impunity too. They have even gone further to set Police Depots ablaze because of accident cases, again with impunity. They are terror on the road because of their recklessness.
The Liberian Government has yet to come up with any law that would put this group of people in check. And if there are any, they are soon relaxed to the detriment of commuters and vehicle owners.
Recently, one Pen-Pen rider between Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County and Kaweaken, River Gee County, threatened that they would set President George Weah’s remaining convoy ablaze if one of their members was harmed.
What was the issue: two vehicles had gotten stuck in the mud and all other vehicles including motorbikes were asked to wait till one of the vehicles was pulled out of the mud. While the process was ongoing; another motorbike rider came running through. When he was told to stop like all others he refused. While drivers and passengers tried talking to him, one of their colleagues remarked: “If anybody touch (sic) any motorbike rider here, we will burn all the cars in this convoy.”
This is how far, these Pen-Pen riders have gone because they believe they have the numbers to hold citizens at ramson. There are times they even set up roadblocks in communities to proffer their demands.
But if you thought the Pen-Pen Riders had become law and gospel unto themselves, then think again, the Zogoes are the most dangerous of the two.
Often armed with broken scissors, machetes, clubs, and other dangerous weapons, they parade the streets and inflate pains, while rubbing their victims.
Just last week between 1:30 and 2 AM, over 100 of these Zogoes armed with all kinds of weapons to inflate pains invaded this Newspaper offices, while staff were printing the Wednesday, October 18 edition of the paper wounding two staff and making away with a motorbike and cellphones. The motorbike was later retrieved by officers of the Anti-Robbery Unity of the Liberian National Police. No arrest was made.
Last year, the same group armed with similar weapons invaded this newspaper office after one of their men was caught stealing. That night one of the paper’s staff was wounded. The newspaper was advised by Police Investigators who came on the scene that morning around 3 AM to armed staff members in case of repeated similar attacks.
On December 24, last year, these same Zogoes invaded the city’s main shopping hub during the eve of the festive season forcing sellers and buyers to run helter-skelter. Businesses and shopping centers closed as early as 2 PM on that day.
The members of the Liberian National Police are ill-equipped to face these Zogoes thereby leaving citizens to repel their attacks.
This situation is becoming rampant, leaving the Zogoes and Pen-Pen Riders to feel like they are in charge of the situation.
Sadly, it is alleged that most of these police officers are in cohort with these criminals particularly the Zogoes. This allegation is based on the premise that these Zogoes soon appear back on the streets two days after their arrest.
Meanwhile, in the case of the New Dawn newspaper, the Police Inspector General Patrick Sudue has yet to respond to an official complaint filed before it by the management of the New Dawn.
With this growing level of impunity, it’s time that the government takes a decision to address the situation from the beginning before it develops into a bigger crisis that could plunge the country into chaos.
