ON THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2024, the Tubman Boulevard; particularly in the premises of the opposition Congress for Coalition Change (CDC) Party Headquarters and Lonestar GSM Company became a ‘no-go- zone’ when riot officers of the Liberia National Police and supporters of the CDC developed stalemate leading to a road block at the disadvantage of people who were on their way either to work or attend personal businesses.
THIS IGNITED FIASCO was linked to an overnight raid by officers of the Liberia Drugs Enforcement Agency (LDEA) on suspected harmful drugs’ base behind the CDC headquarters.
NARRATIVES ARISING FROM the violence that erupted pinpointed at a so-called search warrant from the West Point Magisterial Court which gave LDEA officers the right to raid the suspected drugs’ base as a crackdown on illicit drugs sales, one of the Unity Party-led government’s stern fights to right the many wrongs in the Liberian society today.
WE ARE TOLD there were shootouts during the LDEA raid and that CDC supporters resisted raiding agents passing through the party headquarters during the crackdown exercise.
IN OUR MIND, the overnight raid orchestrated a confrontation between CDC supporters and LDEA officers initially, and by extension, officers of LNP who on Thursday morning went to ensure law and order for free movement of vehicles and pedestrians in front of CDC headquarters on the Tubman Boulevard.
CONSEQUENTIALLY, THE PUBLIC suffered because free movement was hindered when stone-throws and tear gas developed between CDC supporters and riot officers of the LNP for hours thus causing serious tension, injuries and mounting insecurity.
BLUNTLY, WE ZERO support on well-meaning Liberians’ intension to shield illicit drugs’ paddlers; if this could be the case in the instance being insinuated in some quarters.
EQUALLY, WE DENOUNCE any orchestrated provocation for possible violence by invisible hands wanting to gain political relevance at the expense of innocent lives at the time Liberia needs total peace, unity and reconciliation rather than hard-pressed chaotic incidents.
THEREFORE, WE ARE concerned to know whether the headquarters of CDC is a drug cartel for which a so-called search warrant was sanctioned thereby compelling raiding agents to pass through the party headquarters, or the raiding agents overstepped their bounce to cause unnecessary tension and insecurity.
MOREOVER, WE ARE eager to also know if the West Point Magisterial Court‘s so-called search warrant was appropriate as well as the authority that might have requested the court to do so, bearing in mind that the outcome of any risky decision bordering on state security is likely to negatively affect innocent lives.