A violent midnight clash over the weekend left several neighborhoods watch volunteers wounded.
The incident occurred after an army of disadvantaged youths, otherwise known as “Zogos,” launched a vicious stone-throwing ambush in the pitch-black corridors of the Waterside Market on Friday night, October 2.
The bloody confrontation highlights a growing crisis in the Monrovia odd hours, where suspected criminals have turned one of the city busiest commercial hubs into a dangerous, dark sanctuary.
The Ambush at Waterside
The violence erupted when members of the West Point Community Volunteer Neighborhood Watch Team, moved in to clear the market of criminals. They were suddenly outnumbered, and swarmed by a mob of over 50 Zogos.
The attackers unleashed a hail of stones, rocks, and deadly sharp objects at the volunteers.
The wounded watch team members were meanwhile, rushed to the Star of the Sea Catholic Health Center in West Point, where they received treatment for various injuries.
Market Tables by Day, Criminal Beds by Night
For ordinary Liberians and night commuters, Waterside Market has transformed into a gauntlet of fear. By day, the market is a bustling center of trade. By night, it becomes a lawless dormitory and hunting ground bearing zogos in their numbers.
The Setup:
Criminals from nearby West Point, and surrounding slums use the wooden market tables as beds, sleeping on them during the off-hours to anchor themselves inside the market.
The Weapons: Armed with knives, scissors, and razor blades, these gangs use the total darkness of the unlit market to ambush peaceful commuters.
The Bio-hazard: Beyond the physical danger, volunteers, and marketers reveal that the gangs would routinely defecate, and urinate all over the market stalls, leaving behind a bio-hazard for traders who arrive the next morning.
“We Will Not Back Down”
Marketers and ordinary citizens have flooded the Crime Watch Liberia Program with continuous complaints about losing their phones, money, and valuables to the gangs.
Some of the victims told the Crime Watch Liberia Program on HOTT FM 107.9, the defiant community volunteers made it clear that Friday’s bloody ambush will not stop their operations.
“We are tired and will not sit and see criminals attacking, and harassing peaceful Liberians at night,” a representative of the watch team stated. “Despite the attack on our members, we are not going to rest. We will make sure that all the criminals are pushed out of the Waterside Market.”
With the police stretched thin, the battle lines have officially been drawn between West Point’s brave community volunteers, and the armed gangs claiming ownership of the city’s dark corners. By Zeze Ballah| Crime Watch Liberia
