Monrovia — Amidst President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's pronouncement on January 8, 2008 that police officer Nathaniel Lackey's condition is steady after undergoing a plastic surgery by doctors here in Liberia, the condition of that public servant is still far from recovering as there are reports that government has even abandoned him at the John F. Kennedy (JFK) Memorial Hospital.

Lackey, 32, and a father of three boys was recruited into the Liberian National Police (LNP) in 1998 and set ablaze by some group of street peddlers on November 6, 2004 while enforcing an official mandate of clearing street sellers during the Charles Gyude Bryant-led government in Monrovia.

The Foundation for Human Dignity (FIND) that is presently advocating that Officer Lackey be accorded foreign medical attention is calling on the government of Liberia to help save the life of the public servant who was discharging his constitutional duty by orders of the Ministry of Justice.

In a conference, FIND described the case of Officer Lackey who is currently suffering from bones contraction as worrisome and an act against his person now that the Ellen-led government footed his bills to return home sometime last September with the hope of helping him seek appropriate medical attention.

FIND Information Officer, Philip Karnga said that the condition of the ailing police officer is serious as he is currently languishing in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the JFK and contrary to the President's pronouncement of government capacity and commitment, Lackey has not undergone any plastic surgery here or anywhere.

Mr. Karnga said his organization views the condition of the officer as a matter of urgency and a worrisome plight for public servants who are striving to serve the masses in the interest of government.

Mary Bowen, the mother of Lackey told reporters that she is surprised that government is treating her son in this manner and worst of all when she was informed by a social security authority that he would be discharged.

Madam Bowen said that last July while in Ghana her son informed her that he would be flown to Thailand but was later informed that the government's intension was to have him flown home and that the President was sending him ticket to come home in August and while in Liberia, he was visited once (last September) at the JFK by President Sirleaf.

In November 2004, gasoline vendors poured petroleum product on Lackey and set him ablaze thereby causing severe burns all over his body. He was rushed to Ghana due to the condition of his case where he remained hospitalized for two years at the Ghanaian Military Hospital with no improvement whatsoever to his condition.

It was reported that government provided no concrete financial assistance for him while away and worst of all, he was downsized by the Ellen-led government while undergoing treatment, an act that is currently affecting his entire family. It was discovered that Officer Lackey is presently at the hospital alone as he was even abandoned by his wife after the incident.

It was however reported that after several communications from other groups in Liberia when the police officer was downsized, he was said to later be placed on the maintenance payroll of the LNP which is being viewed as having an adverse impact on other civil servants.