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Liberia: Nine Sustained 'Bullet Wounds'
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The NEWS (Monrovia)
21 April 2008
Posted to the web 21 April 2008
C. Emmanuel Johnson
Monrovia
At least nine persons over the weekend sustained bullet wounds in New Kru Town, an outskirt of Monrovia, medical sources disclosed.
The nine were injured when UNMIL military officers fired warning shots to disperse a group of mob attempting to attack a man believed to be a notorious criminal when he was taken to the magisterial court in New Kru Town.
Four of the nine injured are said to be in critical condition and were transferred at the John F. Kennedy Hospital in Sinkor, while the other five with minor wounds, were treated and discharged by authorities at the Redemption Hospital in New Kru Town, a Practical Nurse at the Hospital, Steven Wesseh said Saturday.
UNMIL's spokesman Ben Malor confirmed warning shots were fired but that only "four rounds were fired into the air which succeeded in dispersing the crowd".
According to eyewitness accounts, the violence started when a notorious criminal identified as Raymond Kallor was arrested in the Clara Town area and taken to the New Kru Town Magisterial Court for an alleged armed robbery.
Kallor, as he is being called, is believed to be a notorious armed robber who reportedly killed at least three persons in the New Kru Town area.
Upon hearing the news of his arrest and subsequent transfer to the court, residents barricaded the court in an attempt to attack him.
Following fruitless efforts by court authorities to prevent the angry crowd, UNMIL military officers intervened and fired several warning shots to disband the group.
The 'notorious criminal' was then rescued by UNMIL and placed in police custody.
Bystanders explained that the angry crowd also threw stones and ransacked the court building.
Representative Edward Forh who later arrived on the scene when tension subsided expressed disappointment over the incident.
He said it was unfortunate that people were wounded in an attempt to save the live of a criminal who had destroyed the lives of several persons.
He said there were evidences against the suspected criminal at various police depots in Monrovia, "but whenever he is arrested after few days he is back in the streets.
Forh observed that the lives of ordinary citizens were still at risk due to frequent reports of armed robbery.
But he called on the residents to remain calm, assuring them that the Ministry of Justice and other stakeholders were working on a bill to make arm robbery a non-bailable offense.
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Up to Saturday evening, the Borough of New Kru Town was still in a fragile state and UNMIL security personnel were patrolling the area to ensure that calm was restored.
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