Police warn political leaders

The Liberia National Police (LNP) is warning all political leaders here to begin talking to their partisans to desist from all violent habits, while insisting that it will investigate and prosecute everyone culpable of electoral violence.

“We will not encourage them, we will not tolerate them. We are going to investigate every one of them, and then whoever is found guilty is going to be prosecuted,” Deputy Police Inspector General for Administration Col. Sadatu Reeves said Friday, 22 September at the Police Academy in Paynesville.

Following reported electoral violence between two opposition parties involving Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) and Liberty Party (LP) in Nimba, and another between CDC and ruling Unity Party (UP) in Montserrado, Col. Reeves warns that police will not overlook any such incidents.

During the graduation of the first batch of Chinese – trained 148 Liberian riot police officers in the Formed Police Unit (FPU), Col. Reeves assured the world that Liberia’s political transition of power will be peaceful, saying no one is expected to jeopardize the peace especially when young people who are aspiring for better things are handling the process.

She recalls that a night before the program, police mitigated in an electoral violence here without use of force, and commends Chinese Amb. Zhang Yue for the timely training China has given the Liberian police force at a time it is needed.

Speaking earlier, Chinese Amb. Zhang Yue commended the work of the Liberian police, but sounded caution that he thought it is not yet the time to congratulate them because they had just undertaken the first half of their mission.

In the second half of their mission, he says, the police have a heavy task on their shoulder in the coming months of the elections. Bilaterally, Mr. Yue notes that China and Liberia maintain an eminent relation, vowing that China is always ready to make any contribution once requested towards the rebuilding of Liberia.

Amb. Yue also announced at the ceremony that riot police equipment worth that US$300,000 are on the way coming to Liberia soon in support to the nation’s peace and security process.

Meanwhile, Deputy Police Inspector General for Training and Manpower Development Col. William K. Mulbah says 148 officers, comprising 139 men and nine women completed the FPU training provided by China.

He says the officers were trained in crowd control, vehicle search, weapon assembly and disassembly, map reading, VIP protection and public order security, among others.

According to Col. Mulbah, all of the courses mentioned were taught both practically and theoretically. Prior to the indoor program, the graduating officers performed some techniques at the academy, demonstrating methods of rescuing VIPs from enemies, apprehending suspects and handling violent riots, among others.-Editing by Othello B. Garblah