On Monday morning, Jackson Roland, a commercial motorcyclist, and 10th-grade student of the John Wesley Pearson High School, was brutally killed.
Roland lifeless body was discovered near the CMC Junction in District #8, Nimba County.
the deceased, who was a resident of Pearson Community, was reportedly attacked and chopped multiple times by unknown assailants, who also made away with his motorbike.
The situation intensified later in the day after two individuals were allegedly caught attempting to sell a motorbike in Bunadin Town, the same district where the incident occurred.
Alarmed by the situation and the looks of men, residents raised suspicions, leading to the arrest of the two suspects, who were first taken into police custody in Ganta, and later transferred to the Gbarnga Regional Hub for further investigation.
While the true ownership of the motorbike remains unconfirmed, the incident sparked confusion among the commercial motorcyclist union.
Meanwhile, thousands of motorcyclists stormed the Ganta Police Station, demanding justice and the release of the suspects.
The cyclists protest soon escalated into violence that took the entire Ganta City by surprised.
Despite the intervention of Nimba District #1 Representative Samuel N. Brown, Gompa City Mayor Samuel Hardt, and Nimba County Assistant Commissioner of Police, Larmie Mendin, who appealed for calm, the angry teeming crowd refused to disperse.
By late evening, protesters began throwing stones at police officers, prompting the police to fire tear gas in an attempt to restore order.
Ganta has in recent years witnessed a series of mysterious killings of motorcyclists, often linked to the disappearance of their motorbikes, raising serious security concerns among residents.
Meanwhile, calm has been restored in Ganta with residents and businesses going normal. By P. Uriah Suah