The Inquirer (Monrovia)
19 November 2007
A Belgian expatriate working with the Liberian Agriculture Company (LAC), in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County was over the weekend shot to death, when he led a team from the company on an assessment mission to an area said to be covered for the company's expansion exercise in keeping with the November 15, 2007 agreement signed between the company and the Liberian government.
Mr. Bruno Michiel, who was served as Plantation Manager of the company was instantly shot to death by some local residents amidst disagreement from some of the residents of Grand Bassa over plans by the company to expand its operation to areas located in Division 3 and 4.
According to Deputy Information Minister, Gabriel Williams, who briefed the press on the death of Mr. Michiel, shortly after the Ministry of Justice convened a joint security meeting on the matter, two double barrel shot gun shells were discovered at the site where the deceased was killed.
Mr. Williams said the deceased was killed just after threats were issued by some of the local residents to the LAC management over the planned expansion program. He said in the wake of the signing of the agreement, the principal of a local school in the area whose name he declined to disclose, openly issued death threats against some of those working with the company.
Explaining further, Mr. Williams said over the weekend while Mr. Michiel and some employees of the plantation were carrying out a survey of some of the surrounding areas that would be affected by the LAC planned expansion exercise, and while carrying on the process, they came under fierce fire, which prompted everyone at the scene to flee for safety.
According to Mr. Williams, who claimed that his comments were the outcome of the preliminary reports conducted into the matter by the security forces, Mr. Michiel went missing when the local people opened fire. He said there were fears that those who launched the attack apparently adopted the deceased.
He added that at that stage, the relevant security forces including UNMIL were informed following which time they mobilized themselves to proceed to the area, where Mr. Michiel and the others were carrying on the survey.
He stated further that the security forces then mounted a massive search and it was during the process that the corpse of Mr. Michiel was discovered.
In a related development, when he briefed the press on the murder of Mr. Michiel, the Deputy Information Minister for Public Affairs, Gabriel Williams, said a truck, which was enroute from Monrovia to Buchanan with US$150,000 on board, was armed robbed over the weekend between Orange Groove and Buchanan.
He said the truck in question belongs to the Liberia Agriculture Company (LAC) and the money was intended to pay employees of the company and for the operation purposes of the company.
According to Mr. Williams, the money, which was loaded on board the truck from the Global Bank on Ashmun Street, was stolen as a result of the incident.
Minister Williams concluded that two taxicabs were involved in the incident and that the security forces arrested one of them while the other is at large.
He said the taxicabs were marked, TX-2784 and 1260 respectively. As a result of these latest development, Minister Williams added that the Ministry of Justice under the directive of Minister Philip Banks, convened a joint security meeting at which time, he dispatched a crime team to the county led by Police Chief, Beatrice Munah Sieh.
He said a pistol was collected by the police in the robbery incident. Commenting on figures as it relates to how far the investigation has gone, Minister Williams said in the case of the murder of Mr. Michiel, three prime suspects including the school principal that issued threats against the company employees were arrested while in the case of the armed robbery, three persons are also in detention. He said among them is a chief who reportedly received some of the portion of the US$150,000.
Asked by reporters on whether some of the US$150,000 was retrieved, Minister Williams simply said no.
He said the government would pursue the matter and all those arrested would be brought to justice as the government has already sent a judicial team to look into the matter.
When this paper contacted the LAC Management for comment on the issue, the Public Relations Superintendent, Mr. D. Wah Hne said the company has resolved not to comment on the issue as of now. Asked whether the company was planning to shut down operations as was being speculated in some quarters, he said this was not to his knowledge.
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