The NEWS (Monrovia)
9 April 2008
Monrovia — The Foundation for International Dignity (FIND) has appealed to President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf to help illing police officer Nathaniel Lackey seek foreign medical treatment after he sustained a burn in 2004.
The officer was severely burnt on November 6, 2004 while enforcing a government mandate to clear the streets of gasoline vendors in Clara Town, Bushrod Island.
Addressing a press conference Tuesday, FIND's Legal Aid Officer, Finley Y. Karngar, explained that Officer Lackey was discharging his constitutional duty based on orders from the Ministry of Justice, when he was doused by a gasoline vendor with matches, causing severe burns on his body.
Despite being taken for treatment by the Gyude Bryant-led government at the Ghanaian Military Hospital, FIND disclosed that after two years, the policeman remains hospitalized at the JFK Medical Center, with hospital authorities threatening to discharge him.
"Since Lackey's injury, the Government of Liberia has allegedly provided no concrete financial assistance for him or his family including his three children (all boys) with only the youngest child in school.
Most surprisingly, Officer Lackey was downsized by authorities of the Liberia National Police while in hospital," the pro-democracy group said.
FIND quoted President Sirleaf in her annual message of Monday, January 28, 2008 to the Liberian people as saying, "we are pleased to report that perhaps for the first time in decades, a Liberian patient, Police Officer Nathaniel Lackey, who was brought home from Ghana is still in serious condition, but is now in the mend through plastic surgery done by our own Liberians. This is just one example of the talents of our people and the potential of our capacity and commitment."
However, FIND said contrary to this assertion, the family of Police Officer Lackey has made it known that at present the officer remains in a serious predicament at the Intensive Care Unit of the JFK Medical Center, where he is being taken care of by his aging mother (Mary Bowen).
Additionally, FIND also clarified that there has been no plastic surgery carried out on officer Lackey as reported by President Sirleaf.
The pro-democracy group frowned on the manner in which the officer is being treated as an 'act against his human person'. FIND therefore calls on the government and President Sirleaf to show compassion by ensuring that officer Lackey is accorded foreign medical attention to enable him regain his life.
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