The Government of Liberia has taken a decision to remove from its territory the former Chief of Police of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Mr. Mohammed Y Toure - also known as "Sankoh Paul Alimamy" and "Yeate Yeate".

Mr. Toure was apprehended in Monrovia by Liberian security forces at the request of the Sierra Leonean authorities on the allegation of helping plan subversive activities intended to unseat the Government of President Julius Maada Bio.

Following preliminary investigations in Liberia and given the assurances of the Government of the Republic of Sierra Leone that the rights of the accused will be respected, including his rights to a free, fair and speedy trial, the Liberian Government decided it was appropriate to hand over Mr. Toure to the Government of Sierra Leone as requested by the authorities in that country.

His handover to the Sierra Leonean Government is in keeping with the laws of Liberia and the 1986 Non-Aggression Security Treaty entered into by the Governments of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea.

The decision is also in line with the 1994 Ecowas Convention.

In another development, the Government wishes to dismiss assertions made in Tuesday's Publication of the Heritage Newspaper, which quotes the Movement for Progressive Change Presidential Hopeful, Simeon Freeman, as saying that a rice shortage was imminent.

In the publication, Mr. Freeman claimed that due to the Republic of India's ban on the importation of rice, Liberia will be affected in the coming months.

The government wants to make it very clear that there will be no such shortage of rice on the local market and that there's sufficient rice to supply the market into 2024.

The ban imposed by the Republic of India does not cover the type of rice (parboiled rice) that Liberia imports for local consumption. The Indian Government's ban on rice imports instead covers basmati rice and not parboiled rice.